On Tuesday, Bild reported Chelsea are in ‘pole position’ for Kai Havertz.
This week’s edition of SportBild states the 21-year-old wants to be an integral part of Frank Lampard’s plans at Stamford Bridge and has communicated the same to Bayer Leverkusen.
Havertz has asked the German side not to drag out negotiations with the Blues. Bayer are also looking for a quick agreement for his sale.
The attacking midfielder’s ‘wish’ is to join with Chelsea ‘as quickly as possible’ so that he can ‘get used to the team, the club and the environment in London’.
Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia has entered ‘official negotiations’ with Leverkusen chiefs Rudi Völler and Fernando Carro, after the ‘Havertz poker’ entered a ‘hot phase’ last week.
There are a few people at Chelsea who wanted the club to invest in defensive signings. However, Lampard, Abramovich and Granovskaia are aware their chances of signing Havertz have increased this year because of the Covid-19 crisis.
SportBild state the overall cost of the operation would be €200m, with €100m in wages (gross) and a €100m transfer fee.
Havertz has already agreed a five-year deal worth €10m (net) per season even before Chelsea started discussions with the Bundesliga side. Granovskaia had calculated a fixed fee of €80m, which is €20m short of Leverkusen’s valuation.
This difference needs to settled during the negotiations, and SportBild state: ‘As a rule, this works with contractually guaranteed special payments that are spread over the next few years.’
Chelsea view the attacker as a player who can help them win titles in the next few years because Havertz is ‘trusted to make the difference at the very highest level.’
