It is no surprise that Chelsea’s return to form coincides with the time of the decision to let the German lead the line. This has indeed improved both the club’s performance and the players contributions, leaving fans pleased with the £71 million acquisition from Bayer Leverkusen.
Kai Havertz has become Chelsea’s main man in attack. Photo Credits: Premier League
Fast disappearing from memories are the days when fans feel disgusted whenever Kai Havertz is spotted in the starting XI. The 22 year old is rapidly becoming fans favourite at the Bridge after less than 24 months he joined from the Bundesliga, then, for a club record transfer fee.
The German international has ready scored the winning goals in the UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup finals for Chelsea, while also assisting a decisive goal in the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla. The ultimate big game player that every manager wants in their squad, Kai Havertz has been that in his short spell at Chelsea so far.
However, the arrival of Romelu Lukaku in the last summer and the hype that came with the Belgian’s return to the club left a lot of question mark on how their hero in the Champions League final against Manchester City will fare in the new campaign because the leading role is where he appears to flourish most.
The season did kickoff with Havertz playing behind Lukaku in most of his appearances and he did struggled to get his season going, scoring just five times in his first 32 appearances for Thomas Tuchel side in all competitions. His contribution was not considered significant and he was not selected to start most times.
However, due to Romelu Lukaku’s struggles in front of goal, Havertz was again, experimented as the No. 9 by Thomas Tuchel and that decision has completely transformed everything for the player and the club, with Havertz now arguably the clubs best attacking player.
The numbers has also improved with the player now having seven goals and two assists to his name in the Premier League. He also notched three important goals in six starts in the Champions League and has Chelsea in no way affected by the absence of a striker they signed for almost £100 million.
Playing as a striker, Kai Havertz well complement the other Chelsea core of young attackers. He’s got great positioning and his playmaking skills helps him create openings for his teammates on the attack, as opposed to his Belgian counterpart, he is very good on the ball.
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Tricky and very delicate, it is easy for Havertz to link up play by joining the midfielders anytime Chelsea look to play out from the back. He is everything and more for Chelsea that they want in Romelu Lukaku.
Moreso, he is very devastating with his headers and has scored more headed goals than any other Chelsea players this season. Lukaku is also known to be good with headers but even though many will feel a striker should be good on headers, they never would have expected Kai Havertz to do it better than Lukaku. This is the case for now at Chelsea.
It is a no brainer that Kai Havertz has indeed successfully displaced Romelu Lukaku from the Chelsea XI, and apart from that it will be difficult for the Belgian to fight his way back, Havertz will now have the edge of being a much younger option that can serve on a longer term than his counterpart.
Moreso, there is no denying he has been a better goal getter for Thomas Tuchel’s side than Lukaku, and no manager will want to deny Havertz of the chance he has earned. It is very obvious Chelsea has finally found the striker they were looking for and it came in form of a man whom they signed without expecting him to be the treasure they seek.
Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
