Ex-Chelsea man urges Blues to consider star valued at close to £100m over Brazilian ace

Former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf has advised his old club to go for Kai Havertz instead of considering a potential swoop for Philippe Coutinho.

Havertz, 20, has emerged as one of the top talents in Europe and has continued to display his quality this season with 14 goals and eight assists in 36 appearances.

Having been tipped as one to watch when the Bundesliga returned this month, he has also shown an ability to handle that pressure and expectation as he has had a decisive impact in the last two games.

In turn, as his stock continues to rise, interest is said to be building from a number of top clubs, many of whom are in England. Leboeuf has spoken about the German international and has suggested that Havertz should be the player that Chelsea go for and has cast doubt over the sense behind a move for Coutinho who has struggled over the past two seasons to hit top form for Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

“I like his maturity on the field, he looks like someone who is 30 and knows exactly what he has to do and when he has to do it,” he told ESPN FC, with the Sun reporting on Chelsea’s interest in Havertz who they say is valued close to £100m, with Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City and Bayern Munich all also said to be interested.

“The goal he scored was very clever, between the goalkeeper’s legs.

“He’s the master orchestrator of that team and I talked about him last week and I said that’s a player that I would hire for sure.

“When we were talking about Chelsea and Coutinho, when you see that player [Havertz], he should be in the Premier League very soon. He should be because he’s a very, very talented player.

“I would have lots of question marks seeing him [Coutinho] coming to Chelsea, to bring what?

“I don’t know where his place would be. If I was the chairman, if I was the coach, I would be very hesitant to pick him up.”

Time will tell who is successful in trying to prise Havertz away from Leverkusen and if Chelsea will be among the leading contenders to sign him.

What is clear though is that he is one of the top talents in Europe and will earn a big move at some stage of his career, while with Pedro and Willian potentially moving on this summer when their current contracts expire, Frank Lampard could be in the market for a player like him, and it could make sense to swoop sooner rather than later as his valuation continues to rise.

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