It appears that Chelsea really do mean business in the transfer market this summer.
After already capturing Hakim Ziyech from Ajax and Timo Werner from RB Leipzig, journalist, Pipe Sierra, confirmed via Twitter that the Blues have lodged an €88m bid with Bayer Leverkusen for German wunderkind, Kai Havertz.
That’s more than Real Madrid’s offer of €80m, and Chelsea’s proposed annual salary of €9.5m for the 21-year-old over five years also trumps Los Blancos.
??? CONFIRMADO: El #BayerLeverkusen ha recibido 2 ofertas por el alemán Kai Havertz (21):
–#RealMadrid: 80M€. Contrato: 5 años y salario anual de 9M€.
–#Chelsea: 88M€ + bonos. Contrato: 5 años y salario anual de 9.5M€.El club y su representante analizan la negociación. pic.twitter.com/ckzPZKyrdt
— Pipe Sierra (@PipeSierraR) June 23, 2020
Florentino Perez isn’t used to not getting what he wants so it will be interesting to see if the president of the Spanish giants comes back with a counter offer to really put the cat amongst the pigeons, though he could still find it difficult to persuade the player.
Frank Lampard is garnering a reputation for giving youngsters an opportunity to express themselves in a free-flowing, attacking XI, whereas Real continue to hoover up top talent, but leave them to rot on the sidelines.
You only need to look at the likes of Luka Jovic, Brahim Diaz, Rodrygo Goes and Mariano Diaz as prime examples.
It seems that the ball is now very firmly in Leverkusen’s and the player’s court, and the next few weeks could get very interesting indeed.
Should the German outfit accept the bid, Havertz will need to decide if now is the right time to move.
Alongside Werner, he could form a dynamic and dangerous front two, with goals aplenty virtually guaranteed as well as a wonderful appreciation of each other’s game.