Kai Havertz look set to become the latest talent to leave Bayer Leverkusen in recent years.
The German club has a knack of developing players only for them to be stolen away by a bigger club.
Havertz is probably their most promising star in a long time but Chelsea look set set to pay around £80 million for the 21-year-old.
But Leverkusen have always recovered from losing their best players and they will do once again.
But if they had managed to keep hold of their best players in recent years, they could assemble a pretty incredible XI.
talkSPORT looked at the line-up they could’ve fielded this campaign if they had fended off European giants and not sold their best talent.
Let’s take a look:
Goalkeeper | Bernd Leno
Leno spent seven seasons as Leverkusen’s No.1 before making his £22.5 million move to Arsenal in the summer of 2018. He really impressed this season for the Gunners before a serious injury ended his campaign prematurely.
Defender | Sven Bender
After an eight-year stint at Borussia Dortmund, Bender has now been at Bayer Leverkusen for three years. He’s completed the transition from defensive midfielder to centre-back seamlessly.
Defender | Jonathan Tah
Now 24, Tah has been crucial for the German side for the last five seasons. Leverkusen will be hoping he remains at the club unlike many others in this XI.
Defender | Emre Can
Can only lasted one season at the BayArena before Liverpool snapped him up for just £9.75 million. After four years in England, he moved to Juventus on a free transfer but spent much of last season back in Germany on loan at Borussia Dortmund.
Wing-back | Dani Carvajal
It’s easy to forget that Carvajal left Real Madrid for one season at Bayer Leverkusen before the Spanish club exercised their buy-back clause. Those pesky buy-back clauses.
Carvajal is now one of the best right-backs in world football.
Wing-back | Leon Bailey
Bailey could well follow Havertz out of the door this summer. The 22-year-old winger is a huge talent and is attracting the interest of the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United.
Midfield | Arturo Vidal
Vidal was at Leverkusen for four seasons, making 144 appearances in total. He’s now at Barcelona via Juventus and Bayern Munich.
Midfield | Toni Kroos
What a lovely balanced midfield pairing of Vidal and Kroos.
Kroos spent two seasons on loan at Leverkusen whilst at Bayern Munich. For the past six seasons, the German has been starring for Real Madrid.
Attacking midfield | Hakan Calhanoglu
The Turkish midfielder enjoyed three seasons at Bayer before his £20 million move to Milan in 2017.
Attacking midfield | Kai Havertz
The 21-year-old scored 17 Bundesliga goals during the 2018/19 and followed that up with another 12 last season. He’s an incredible talent and Chelsea will be very lucky to have him.
Striker | Heung-Min Son
Son finished his Leverkusen career with 29 goals in 87 appearances. When Spurs spent £22 million on him in 2015, even they probably didn’t expect the South Korean to become a club hero over the next five seasons.
Check out the XI here:
