Frank Leboeuf has explained why he thinks Kai Havertz has so much more to give in a Chelsea shirt.
Havertz, 22, etched his name into Blues folklore during his first year with the club last season, scoring the winner in a Champions League final against Manchester City.
The German attacker has a huge £71million price tag on his head following his transfer from Bayer Leverkusen last summer, which took place when Frank Lampard was still the manager.
He’s shown some moments of individual quality under current boss Thomas Tuchel, but it still feels like there is more to come from him. The left-footer has just one goal and one assist in nine games across all competitions this season.
Leboeuf reckons that Havertz has got nowhere near replicating his Leverkusen form while at Stamford Bridge.
“Overall, I saw him playing for his former club in Germany, he was 10 times better than I’ve ever seen him playing for Chelsea so far,” Leboeuf told ESPN.
“I have the right to expect much more from a young talent because I know he’s a real talent… I think he can give so much more to Chelsea. Yes, thank you for scoring that goal [in the Champions League final], but you can give us more.”
Kai Havertz fighting for role in Chelsea XI
If you look at the options in the Chelsea squad, Tuchel has shown a lot of faith in Havertz this campaign by starting him more often than not.
However, everything is not clicking into gear for him yet.
His return of 10 goals and 10 assists in 54 total Chelsea appearances is not the kind of end product you’d expect from a £70million-plus player.
He should be nervously looking over his shoulder because his spot must be under threat.
Teammate Mateo Kovacic did recently show support to Havertz, though, by calling him a “class player”.
Chelsea need to fix attack
Chelsea’s team struggled to score last season, something which is creeping back into their game right now.
They’ve got a focal point in Romelu Lukaku is likely to score goals on mass if given the right supply line, but right now there is an issue creating and converting chances.
Tuchel will be hoping for a much more ruthless performance this weekend against Southampton.
Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and opinion by following The Chelsea Chronicle’s Twitter account here.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
