Arsenal icon Arsene Wenger has admitted he was left "quite amazed" by Kai Havertz's struggles at Chelsea towards the start of the season - but was impressed with how he adapted to bounce back into form.
Havertz joined the Blues for a record price of £72million from Bayer Leverkusen last summer and came to Stamford Bridge with massive expectations after flourishing in Germany.
However, the midfielder took a bit of time to settle in west London, along with his compatriot Timo Werner - who was also signed from the Bundesliga.
It is perhaps no great surprise that Havertz did initially struggle. Moving to a foreign country for the first time at 21 years old wouldn't be easy in any year - let alone one when the country was in and out of lockdown and in the middle of a global pandemic.
Havertz, himself, also endured a spell out of the team after contracting Covid-19, having to spend seven to ten days in bed after the virus hit him "very hard". He missed three games and his place in the Chelsea 11.
Havertz's form has picked up massively since Thomas Tuchel took charge in January, though, and most recently, he was the hero in the Champions League final, where he scored the only goal of the game to bring Chelsea European success.
Wenger has revealed he is a big fan of the 21-year-old German - who has nine goals in all competitions for Chelsea this season - and was left disappointed by his form towards the start of his Blues career, but was pleased to see him adjust and adapt in order to bounce back.
"I believe that Havertz was very disappointing at the start," the former Gunners boss told beIN Sports. "I liked him and I was quite amazed how much trouble he had at the start to settle.
"He adjusted, adapted, he came back, he suffered, he spent his period on the bench and came back again. To me, he is a very promising player. I would bet on him for the future."
Wenger also spoke about Werner, who like Havertz, has taken a while to adapt to the Premier League, but has showed glimpses of his ability during the 2020/21 season. Despite netting 12 goals in his debut season, Werner's high-profile misses have often been a major talking point.
However, Wenger sees the value Werner adds to a team beyond that.
The Frenchman added: "I like the quality of his runs. I like his movement, but he’s not… we see his conversion rate with the number of chances he has.
"He’s not good enough to say, but he will be absolutely the favourite to be the player of the tournament [Euro 2020]."
Werner finished his debut season at Stamford Bridge with the joint-most goals at the club, along with Tammy Abraham.
