‘I think’: Wayne Rooney says 23-year-old Chelsea player could impress on the World Cup stage

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Wayne Rooney has made an interesting prediction on Chelsea’s Kai Havertz, tipping him to have a decent World Cup tournament with Germany.

Havertz, who’s now into his third season at Chelsea, is a player that divides opinion at Stamford Bridge.

For certain, there’s no doubting the 23-year-old is a talented attacker that’s capable of the spectacular. However, his form is just too inconsistent and he’s not posting enough numbers in the goal contribution tally.

The left-footed forward goes into the World Cup with just four goals in 20 appearances for Chelsea this season, but don’t be surprised if he turns up for his country.

Rooney prediction on Havertz

It’s quite surprising to hear Rooney single out the Germany player on the eve of the World Cup.

“I think Kai Havertz will have a good tournament,” Rooney told The Times.

When asked for the golden boot contenders at the World Cup, Rooney replied: “[Kylian] Mbappe, [Karim] Benzema and Harry [Kane] are all strong contenders. As I said, I think Havertz will have a good tournament. You cannot rule out [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo I’m sure will chip in with a few goals. You never know with Romelu Lukaku… he could be the difference for Belgium in terms of how they do.”

Havertz, along with Chelsea loanee Lukaku, are two attackers that are usually vital for their respective countries.

Neither have been goal machines when playing for the Blues, but they do have the quality.

Bayern Munich and Germany star Joshua Kimmich has tipped Havertz to have a big World Cup earlier this week, so Rooney isn’t alone in his prediction.

There’s obviously a top-class player within him with so many great attributes, which is why Chelsea fans get even more frustrated with him.

His flexibility to play as a striker, No.10 and wide man is sometimes to his own detriment. Let’s see what he can do as Germany’s No.9 in this tournament in Qatar.

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