Chelsea fans had the opportunity to watch transfer target Kai Havertz in action as his Bayer Leverkusen side took on Rangers in the Europa League.Having won 3-1 away from home in the first leg, Leverkusen were fully expected to progress to the quarter-finals of the competition. And they did just that with a 1-0 win thanks to Moussa Diaby’s goal.But how did Havertz play?Well, he operated wide right in a 4-2-3-1 formation and was heavily involved in everything Leverkusen did in the first half.He hit the bar with a volley early on and also had two one-on-one situations with Allan McGregor but failed to convert both.
But his best moment came just before half-time as he played a quite incredible pass over the top to Diaby, who blazed over.Imagine if Timo Werner was on the end of that sumptuous pass…The 21-year-old did tire towards the end of the 90 minutes - perhaps understandable considering this was Bayer’s first competitive fixture in more than a month.
Overall, the £89 million-rated star showed glimpses of his talent but things didn’t quite work out for him. On another day, he would have scored twice and made headlines.It may not have been his finest performance of the season but Chelsea fans were very encouraged with what they saw.And a video of his individual highlights against Rangers have emerged. Check it out:
Matt Davies from the Evening Standard wrote about Havertz’s performance and stated: “Though failing to register a goal or assist, there was plenty to admire about Havertz's work. Primarily, his versatility is impressive. Clearly capable on the right, left and up top, the youngster would improve Chelsea in a number of departments.”
While Kieran Jackson from the Daily Mail felt that Havertz is far from the finished article by writing: “The talent is evidently there, but should a mega-money deal go through this summer, Frank Lampard will certainly have some work to do.”
One bit of bad news is that Havertz will now stay at Bayer with them facing Inter Milan on August 10 where Chelsea supporters will get another glimpse of him in action.