‘Stepped up’: Pat Nevin claims 22-year-old has been Chelsea’s best player since Abramovich got sanctioned

Add as preferred source on Google

Pat Nevin picked out Kai Havertz as being the shining light for Chelsea during the bleakest period in the club’s recent history.

Writing for the Blues, Nevin honoured Havertz’s attitude both on and off the pitch throughout the most troublesome situation to reach Stamford Bridge for some time.

Away from competitive action, there hasn’t been much to sing and shout about, thanks to the sanctions imposed by the UK government upon Roman Abramovich.

Murmurs of administration swirled around South West London shortly after Abramovich had all of his assets frozen.

Thankfully, with the new owner search well underway, Chelsea going financially under doesn’t appear a probable outcome.

However, there is still plenty to be concerned about whilst the process to find a final buyer continues.

Chelsea have not let the side down

Fortunately, for those fans waiting patiently to discover the name of Abramovich’s successor, they have been provided with a distraction recently.

Thomas Tuchel’s men continue to put on a pretty decent show, despite the outside noise threatening to derail their course.

They are on a six-game winning streak, that actually started on the eve Abramovich announced he had put the organisation up for the sale.

Chelsea have seen off Luton Town, Burnley, Norwich City, Newcastle United, Lille and Middlesbrough as part of their unblemished run.

Spearheading such a streak has been a certain German international.

“Certainly a good number of players have stepped up to the plate when needed and maybe none more so than Kai Havertz,” said Nevin.

“His goals in this period have been crucial. On top of that, when he has been interviewed, he has generally shown great intelligence and emotional understanding of the delicacy of the situations.

“When you consider how difficult this can be, with so many understandably angry people ready to jump on any misplaced word, he has been as impressive as anyone in the game.”

Havertz is the man

Havertz has arguably outperformed any of his teammates since the landscape of Chelsea changed at the beginning of March.

He bagged a brace against Burnley, netted against Norwich then nabbed the winner past Newcastle at home.

The 22-year-old is now up to 11 goals for the campaign, one below Romelu Lukaku, the man he has actively replaced in Tuchel’s attack.

Lukaku’s absence really hasn’t altered Chelsea’s trajectory at all, mainly because of the form Havertz finds himself in currently.

Combine that with his elegant responses to the difficult questions posed about Abramovich, the young German really can do no wrong right now.

Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and opinion by following The Chelsea Chronicle’s Facebook and Twitter accounts