Kai Havertz has Thomas Tuchel’s trust to spearhead Chelsea’s run-in with Romelu Lukaku dropped for good

Thomas Tuchel will put his faith in Kai Havertz in his bid to salvage Chelsea’s season.

And that threatens to leave Romelu Lukaku out in the cold, with £97.5million striker facing a fight to regain his place at the point of attack.

Tuchel knows his only chances of further silverware this term are in the Champions League and FA Cup after falling away in the race for the Premier League title.

After failing to make it work with club record signing Lukaku up front, he has turned to Havertz, who struck twice in Saturday’s 4-0 win at Burnley.

The German is Chelsea’s leading scorer since Tuchel took charge last year with 13 goals, and his manager has stated that the striker’s role is now his to lose.

“The players, they put themselves on the pitch,” said the German. “He gives a lot of intensity and he’s involved in goals. He scored again, so it’s a very good moment and it’s on him to keep going. This is how it is.”

Tuchel’s comments raise further questions over Lukaku, who has failed to rediscover the form that convinced Chelsea to sign hm from Inter Milan last summer.

While Tuchel’s ideal plan was to form a partnership between the Belgium international and Havertz, Lukaku’s struggles adapt to his teammates has increasingly seen him pushed to fringes.

He was on the bench for the crucial Champions League tie with Lille last month and again for last week’s Carabao Cup final. He started and scored against Luton in the FA Cup – but was benched again at Turf Moor.

Tuchel has made it clear that Havertz currently offers more than the man who was supposed to be the final piece in Chelsea’s bid to win the title.

“What he gives us is huge volume,” he said. “He covers a lot of metres in high intensity, so he finds the intensity no matter