Manchester United and Chelsea have reportedly both been given a potentially significant boost over a transfer deal for Kai Havertz as he looks set for a move this summer.
Havertz has become regarded as one of the most exciting young players in Europe after some eye-catching form in the Bundesliga, and surely has a fine career ahead of him at a top club.
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It was previously claimed by Christian Falk, however, that Havertz may insist on leaving Bayer Leverkusen for Champions League football, which he said may dent Chelsea’s hopes as they don’t look guaranteed to qualify for the competition…
Update @kaihavertz29 & @ChelseaFC: Havertz wants to leave @bayer04fussball already this summer because the club has not qualified for Champions League. Because of that it would be important for @ChelseaFC to qualify for Champions League to convince him
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) July 12, 2020
United, meanwhile, have also been linked as potential suitors for the 21-year-old by the Manchester Evening News, who suggested Chelsea could currently be ahead in the running for the player, who would likely cost around £90million.
The Blues are narrowly ahead of Man Utd in the race for a top four place at the moment, and both sides will be absolutely desperate to be playing in Europe’s top club competition next season.
Still, in terms of luring Havertz, it may not actually be the deal-breaker that Falk suggested, as BBC Sport claim he’s prepared to move to a team even if they cannot offer Champions League football.
The piece suggests the Germany international may instead be swayed by a promising long-term project, and it will be interesting to see which move would look more tempting right now – Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge.
Both clubs could do with an attacking talent like Havertz in their ranks, with Chelsea still in need of a long-term replacement for Eden Hazard, who left while they were under a transfer ban last summer.
United, meanwhile, have sometimes lacked spark in the final third and may well see the youngster as an upgrade on under-performing players like Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard and Daniel James.