Adapting to England and Premier League was not easy for me, admits Kai Havertz

Following his £71 million move to Chelsea, and becoming their second most expensive signing of all-time back then, a lot was expected from Kai Havertz. But the German endured a tough teething debut season with him only finding his footing in England and the Premier League after Thomas Tuchel arrived. It saw the 22-year-old eventually score 9 goals and record a further ten assists across all competitions with a slew of impressive showings.

That includes a stellar Champions League final with Havertz scoring the only goal in the game but there have still been questions asked as to whether the 22-year-old has adapted to England yet. It saw the attacker admit that he never imagined the Premier League and the Bundesliga to be so different with the former a lot more physical. Havertz also added that his first six months were the toughest as he struggled to adapt but things have eventually improved, slowly but steadily.

“I could never imagine that the league would be so completely different to German football. It’s just so much more physical, a lot more running. So I couldn’t have imagined that it would be this hard. And maybe I thought it would get easier,” Havertz told the Guardian.

“It was not the best time for me, those first six months, but maybe it was right to have a little down. In Germany, I was always the best, everybody loved me and then they think: ‘OK, he comes to England, now he can do it again.’ It was just not easy for me. But as a person and a player, I grew very much during that period and, after the rain, comes always the sun.”

The 22-year-old joined Chelsea as a part of a slew of signings made last summer with the club spending over £200 million on new players. They’ve continued that trend so far with a big-money move for Romelu Lukaku and it has many believing that the club has a chance at the title. It saw Havertz admit that he believes that should be their goal this season especially after lifting the Champions League last term.

“I think so, yes (when asked if the club’s goal is to win the Premier League). That’s our goal. We won the Champions League and we have very high standards, a lot of good players and a very good coach so everything fits very well. You come to Chelsea to win titles and now we have to show it again and again,” he added.