Once Karim Benzema announced that he was leaving Real Madrid last weekend, Kai Havertz flew to the top of the list of potential replacements. We heard plenty in the Spanish press about how Carlo Ancelotti was a big fan of the floaty forward, and how Madrid were considering bringing him in following the departures of attackers Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio as well as Benzema.
Thing have developed quickly though, and now it seems the Spanish champions have moved on. Fabrizio Romano confirmed in a Tweet today that they’re not interested in paying the €60m plus bonuses that Chelsea want for him.
To us, that puts the Blues in a sticky situation. They may have priced themselves out a deal for a player who doesn’t really have a role at Chelsea, and doesn’t seem to have a huge amount of interest from elsewhere either.
But apparently that’s not the case. Romano’s Tweet adds that “Chelsea expect more clubs to approach them”
We’re not sure who is going to pay that kind of money for Havertz if Madrid aren’t, but we look forward to seeing whether the club’s confidence is well placed. If we end up with the German on our books for another year without any more success his value will be even lower next summer, and we might quickly end up wishing we had offered Madrid more favourable terms this week.