Without Romelu Lukaku, Kai Havertz can play as number nine, asserts Thomas Tuchel
Thomas Tuchel has admitted that Kai Havertz could occupy the number nine spot and would be entrusted to lead the Chelsea attack after Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner suffered injury setbacks during their Champions League fixture against Malmo. Havertz has featured eleven times for Chelsea this season.
Kai Havertz established himself as one of the hottest teenage prospects in European football during his spell with Bayer Leverkusen. It saw the German snapped up by Chelsea, on a five-year contract for an initial fee of £62 million, once the club heard that he was available for transfer. However, Havertz initially struggled under Frank Lampard due to a wealth of riches at his disposal that saw the English manager struggle to fit the German into his side.
But Thomas Tuchel's arrival has revitalized his career with the Blues as he has been an important player in his team since then. Havertz has made 56 appearances for the English side while scoring 11 goals and providing 10 across all competitions. The German helped the London club secure the Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup during his time so far even netting the decisive goal which secured the victory over Manchester City in the final of the Champions League.
But with Chelsea suffering an injury setback with both Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku being replaced during their European fixture against Malmo on Wednesday night, it has seen rumours indicate that Havertz could be drafted in as a replacement. That was more or less confirmed by Tuchel as he revealed that Havertz could fill the void left behind the absence of the two strikers and could feature in the No 9 role in upcoming games.
"Without Romelu , we can play with Kai as a number nine. For me, it’s not so much of a false nine. Kai is also very strong in the last line and behind the last line, arriving in the box. When he plays as a number nine we want this from him, and he did that against Malmo. The game will be a bit different without Romelu, but we want the same power, the same amount of people in the same spaces when we finish our attacks,” Tuchel said in his pre-match press conference.
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