Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jermaine Jenas believes Chelsea’s midfield will ooze goals and creativity next season if they manage to complete the signing of Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Kai Havertz.
The Germany international, who only celebrated his 21st birthday last month, is understood to be closing in on a move to Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea keen to bolster their squad ahead of the start of the 2020/21 campaign, which, they hope, will see them challenge the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City for the Premier League title.
At the time of writing, it is understood that Havertz wants to seal a switch to the Premier League and the only thing that is currently holding up the deal is the transfer fee itself, though the Blues are confident that they will soon reach an agreement with Leverkusen to get the deal over the line.
Should Chelsea’s plan to sign Havertz come to fruition, it could spell the end for some members of the Blues’ squad, with head coach Frank Lampard already spoilt for choice when it comes to central-midfield options.
The Blues chief currently has the likes of Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Ross Barkley, Mason Mount, Billy Gilmour, Mateo Kovacic and even new recruit Hakim Ziyech to choose from, with the latter capable of playing as an advanced central-midfielder if required.
With that in mind, Jenas, now a regular pundit for the BBC, believes Lampard may have to let one or two go.
Whatever happens, though, Jenas is adamant that Chelsea’s midfield will be made even better if a deal for Havertz gets over the line.
Jenas said: “In my opinion he’s a top player, there’s no denying that, but so is Ruben Loftus-Cheek, so is Mason Mount and have we given up on Ross Barkley as well?
“My point is I think some of these deals are too good to turn down. It’s as simple as that. They know defensively what they need to work on and actually if you look at what Man City have got at their disposal, you kind of go ‘I need to bolster out the squad’ and that’s how you get the job done.
“Look at Liverpool, they’ve got big numbers in midfield. Frank’s looking at his midfield and possibly might be thinking ‘am I going to keep Kante as he’s one of my favourite players but all of a sudden he’s picked up a lot of injuries?’ Is he going to stay or is he going to go?
“What will happen with Jorginho, as he probably doesn’t fancy him? I know Frank loves Kante but Jorginho will definitely be one in my opinion [to go], and probably someone like Ross Barkley as well.
