Chelsea will attempt yet another raid on the Bundesliga with a move for Bayer Leverkusen starlet Kai Havertz, according to Daily Mail.
Sporting director of Bayer Simon Rolfes said: ‘We don’t know what is going to happen to Kai yet.
‘We know that after him are all the great clubs from Germany and Europe, and that he can play anywhere.’
Chelsea especially want him as a young wide player to replace the outgoing Brazilian Willian and Spaniard Pedro, expected to seal the £53 m transfer of RB Leipzig centre forward Timo Werner when the transfer window opens.
It is known that the 20-year-old Havertz is the player they want, even though other top European clubs will give tough competition to them for signing him.
Chelsea will have to spend heavily on winning the race, with the market value of Havertz sitting north of £75 m and the player under contract up until 2022. They have spent £ 38 m already on attacking Ajax midfielder Hakim Ziyech.
But the club in London is determined to pull background on their rivals that they feel lost during last summer’s transfer embargo.
Meanwhile, Andre Onana is one goalkeeper who dreams of a move from the Premier League and who has been linked with Chelsea.
However, Chelsea is even ready to shelve attempts to hire a new goalkeeper this summer, despite assessing a variety of possible applicants after a formal dip leading to questions about the long-term future of Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Lampard kept the Spaniard out for six consecutive games in January and February after a loss of form. But he regained the confidence of his manager to receive a remainder of their two games before the suspension of football, holding clean sheets against Liverpool and Everton in Chelsea’s wins.
And if they recoup at least the bulk of the world record £71.6 m they spent signing him two years ago, only then can Frank Lampard’s side move on from the Spaniard. This seems impossible considering this summer’s shortlist of top clubs searching for a new No 1.
Havertz has been in the first team at Leverkusen since he was 17 and has seven caps for Germany. He was influential this season but left out of the squad that lost 4-2 to Bayern at home on the weekend.
Havertz has scored five times in four games since the Bundesliga resumed, and is on Real Madrid and Bayern Munich’s radar.
This summer, the Ajax goalkeeper wants to leave Amsterdam and would be keen to join Ziyech at Stamford Bridge.
But, despite the volatility of the post-Coronavirus transfer market, the Cameroon international, who is priced at about £27 m and has two years left on his current contract, is willing to remain at the Dutch giants for another season.
