Rio Ferdinand believes 21-year-old is going to become so important for Chelsea

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Rio Ferdinand has claimed he thinks Kai Havertz is going to become a really important player for Chelsea moving forward.

Havertz, 21, put in one of his best performances in a Blues shirt last night, as the club reached the Champions League final.

Chelsea beat Spanish opponents Real Madrid 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, which gave them a 3-1 aggregate win over the two-legged semi-final to set up a final showdown with Manchester City for Europe’s elite club prize. 

Havertz was named in the starting XI by manager Thomas Tuchel, which was definitely a reward for his two goals in the Premier League win over Fulham at the weekend.

The German attacker repaid the faith shown in him with an all-action display against Madrid, as he was a nuisance throughout with his work rate.

As well as working his socks off and showing real flair with the ball at his feet, he was heavily involved in Timo Werner’s crucial goal.

The 21-year-old showed great composure with a chipped attempt over the goalkeeper, which ultimately fell to his teammate to tap into an empty net.

Pundit Ferdinand singled out Havertz after his Champions League masterclass, and he’s convinced that moving forward he can be a central figure at the London club.

“He [Havertz] reminds me of Berbatov, a player I played with at Manchester United. He’s got that lazy swagger at times and you feel that nonchalance about him,” Ferdinand told BT Sport 2 (10:35pm, 5 May).

“The guy is just so smooth man. The game doesn’t quicken up around him. The game slows down to his pace, he gets things done really, really elegantly. His touch is always exquisite.

“I think he’s going to grow to be a really important player [for Chelsea].”

The Chronicle View

Havertz is proving to be so effective playing as a central striker for Chelsea lately, but he’s got a licence to drop into pockets of space and go hunting for the ball deeper if he wants.

The left-footer has a composure around the box unlike most in the squad, so you can rely on him in the big moments.

It’s taken him time to get up to full speed, but he’s a young player showing exactly why he was rated as one of the very best players in the Bundesliga when he was at Bayer Leverkusen.

It turns out that he could end up having a memorable first season with Chelsea.

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