Chelsea is “wealthy” as it relates to their depth at the midfield position; where could they even fit someone like Kai Havertz?
While reports suggest that Roman Abromovich wishes to acquire Kai Havertz from Bayern Leverkusen, he is not alone in this matter. The list grows longer by the day for suitors; Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are amongst the clubs. At any club, his arrival would provide a glut of talent in the idle of the field; at Chelsea, it would be particularly remarkable.
Chelsea has Jorginho, Mason Mount, Billy Gilmour, Christian Pulisic, Matteo Kovacic and Ross Barkley amongst others; Hakim Ziyech was also just signed for this next campaign as well. This is not to say that Kai Havertz is not better or potentially better than all of these players, bu that some players will have to depart to accommodate this transfer alongside the copious amounts of talent already available.
Chelsea: A wonderful problem to have
This “issue“ is a luxury almost every manager would be happy to have to resolve for himself; who goes to accommodate a player like Kai Havertz? Interestingly enough for Chelsea, I don’t think its an extraordinarily difficult cluster of decisions to make according to the roster.
Maurizio Sarri wants Jorginho at Turin for next year; he needs the glue to make his system come alive at Juventus there is no question. For Chelsea, it would be advisable to move him to Juventus in return for some defensive assistance, or additional aid on the wings perhaps? That is likely only part one of the endeavour, however; Matteo Kovacic and Christian Pulisic can both play wide as well as internally; this means that it becomes a matter of keeping or shipping off Ross Barkley.
Havertz is the better talent but if one can keep Barkley as a rotational piece it may be useful to retain his services. In any event, the midfield of Kai Havertz, Mason Mount and N’golo Kante seems terrifying for any and all Premier League opposition.
Having Billy Gilmour and Ross Barkley immediately behind Havertz and Mount is a fair set to be sure, while other options exist as well; Ruben Loftus-Cheek as well as the aforementioned Kovacic and Pulisic.
These are luxurious deliberations to have in speculation of Chelsea; it is difficult to argue that the ownership at Chelsea is not amongst the most competitive in the world. This is in spite of their consistent readiness to hire and fire managers; Chelsea may look like chaos, but perhaps it is controlled chaos, a circus of sorts.
Chelsea: Ambition and Money, unified
Liverpool has cooled in pursuit of Kai Havertz for the same reason they lost out on Timo Werner to Chelsea; recalcitrance. In this delicate economic climate, Liverpool grew anxious over the prospect of greater external spending. Chelsea and their Millionaire Russian owner have no such issue, and if the rest of European football is not careful Kai Havertz will be at Stamford Bridge.
The best chance I see in opposition of this has ironically become Bayern Munich; just the other day I analyzed the idea that Bayern had been too dominant for the good of the Bundesliga itself. Might a move to acquire him actually hurt the quality of German football? It may; however, it also makes lots of sense practically speaking, and would leave the rest of the Premier League breathing easier as well.
For Chelsea, it should be a no brainer; the talent and potential that he would bring to London would be electric for the Premier League and Chelsea. Frank Lampard would have the opportunity to manage really good, young, high-quality players for years to come. The championship window both domestically and abroad would surely grow wide and the top clubs would be put on notice.
Will Chelsea? Only time will tell; but if Havertz remains on the market no one should be shocked if he signs to boss the midfield at Chelsea for years to come.