Chelsea: £150k-a-week star ‘on borrowed time’ at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea attacker Kai Havertz is ‘on borrowed time’ following his poor start to the current campaign, according to journalist Simon Phillips.

The 23-year-old has put in several below-par performances for the Blues in the opening weeks of the season, leading to questions being raised over his place in the starting lineup.

Havertz signed a five-year contract worth £150,000-per-week after completing a £75.8 million move from Bayer Leverkusen back in 2020 and has endured mixed success at Chelsea ever since.

The Germany international had a slow start to life in west London but went on to register nine goals and eight assists in 45 appearances across all competitions in his maiden campaign, including the only strike in the Champions League final.

And Havertz built on that success last term, racking up 20 goal contributions in 47 outings as Chelsea were defeated by Liverpool on penalties in both the FA Cup and League Cup finals.

However, the creative talent has been unable to replicate those performance levels this time around, finding the back of the net on just one occasion in his opening eight games and failing to set up a single strike.

Former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel previously admitted that he wanted ‘more’ from Havertz as he is ‘full of talent’, and his successor Graham Potter may also find himself in a similar position.

Phillips believes that academy graduate Armando Broja could be in line to take Havertz’s place in the starting XI after producing a handful of promising displays from the substitute’s bench.

In an interview with GiveMeSport, he said: “I think right now, the form that Kai Havertz is in, I think he’s on borrowed time.

“He’s not playing very well, and every time Armando Broja comes on, he plays very