Havertz absence may mean a revival of transfer talks
Developments suggest Bayer 04 Leverkusen and FC Chelsea may be nearing the completion of a deal for Kai Havertz.
Despite the fact that Leverkusen officials continue to keep a low profile and Kai Havertz’s agent remains silent on the matter, signs emerged over the weekend that FC Chelsea are close to completing a deal for one of Germany’s most promising young strikers. German footballing magazine Kicker cites Havertz’s absence from an obligatory training/testing session on Sunday as one reason a transfer may be imminent.
Germany’s most-esteemed rumor-mill aggregator, Transfermarkt.de, has not made any changes to its transfer-possibility assessment. The likelihood of a transfer nevertheless remains at 76 percent. All Werkself players were all scheduled to take part in a highly important set of preparatory drills and physical appraisals. The absence of one of the team’s central actors was most conspicuous.
Kicker explicitly rules out other reasons for Havertz’s non-participation in the Sunday activities. There can be no fitness or health-related reasons for the absenteeism. It also doesn’t seem likely that the 21-year-old attacking midfielder was already on his way to report to the German National team. Nationalmannschaft colleague Jonathan Tah has also been selected for national team duties, yet was present in the club’s “Werkstatt”.
Chelsea’s pursuit of Havertz, a process which has stretched out over the entire Summer, appeared to have cooled off in recent weeks. The recent transfer of Kevin Volland to AS Monaco also suggested that Bayer would be unlikely to part company with another attacking threat.
However, the likely acquisition of heavy scoring threat Patrick Schick from RB Leipzig may accord Germany’s red company team enough offensive firepower on their roster to justify a move. Moreover, Chelsea’s reported offer of approximately €100 million may be too profitable to resist.
Since the club could offer no explanation why Havertz missed the team’s performance diagnostics, Kicker deduces that, at the very least, the two clubs are talking once again.