From seven touches to ‘volume’, how Kai Havertz leapfrogged Romelu Lukaku to emerge as Chelsea’s go-to No 9

This time last year Kai Havertz was viewed as a transfer “flop”. Search this yourself and you will find several articles placing him in lists of 2020’s worst summing signings.

Havertz had arrived from Bayer Leverkusen for £72m, but was struggling to make his mark in the Premier League, and by the end of March 2021 he had scored just the one league goal and four more in cup competitions. Ad/> That sorry start prompted pundit Micah Richards, not without reason, to claim it was a toss-up between Havertz and another Chelsea signing, Timo Werner, for the “Flop of the Year”.

Champions League‘Way stronger’ Real looking to avenge 2021 semi-final Chelsea defeat – Inside Europe6 HOURS AGO In an article for the Mail on April 1 last year, Richards then added: “I hope both of them learn from this difficult season and come back to show their true potential.” For Werner, it has been another patchy season, but Havertz has not only started to show his true potential, but he has kept out Chelsea’s club-record signing – the man initially deemed the final piece of the title-challenge puzzle – and emerged as Thomas Tuchel’s first-choice centre forward. When Romelu Lukaku signed for £97.5m last summer, there was no disputing who would be Chelsea’s starting No 9.

The Belgian was returning on the back of a 24-goal season in Serie A that helped Inter win the league, and his task was to do likewise in 2021-22 with the Blues. Tuchel not happy talking about Lukaku after Chelsea win Late Havertz strike seals dramatic Chelsea win against Newcastle ‘Way stronger’ Real looking to avenge 2021 semi-final Chelsea defeat – Inside Europe ‘Chelsea are Premier League favourites with Lukaku’ was a popular take, including here at Eurosport (sorry, Benjamin