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Football London
Football London
Sport
Daniel Orme

Thomas Muller agrees with Frank Lampard on £70m Chelsea star who can be key for Thomas Tuchel

Germany captain Thomas Muller has hailed Kai Havertz’s versatility as the Chelsea man continued his hot run of form in front of goal on Saturday evening. The German forward netted his country’s first goal in their 2-0 victory over Israel, with Blues teammate Timo Werner also getting in on the act.

The strike took the 22-year-old to eight goals in just 24 caps for die Mannschaft, coupled with ten assists - an extremely impressive output for a player so young. Meanwhile, it has also been another extremely productive season for him at Stamford Bridge too.

Havertz has scored 11 goals in all competitions for Chelsea, having found the net in each of his last three Premier League appearances, whilst he also scored the winning goal in the FIFA Club World Cup final against Palmeiras earlier this season. Intriguingly, the forward - signed from Bayer Leverkusen for £70m two years ago - has regularly been preferred by Thomas Tuchel in a central attacking role and has often edged out club record signing Romelu Lukaku for a starting berth.

READ MORE: Conor Gallagher sends Chelsea transfer message and makes Crystal Palace claim after England win

However, it is his ability to slot in anywhere across the front-line that has been noticed by Muller. Speaking in a press conference, the Bayern Munich icon said: “Hansi Flick has an enormous choice on offense and players with different qualities. Kai Havertz also played very well at Chelsea at the top.

“For us it is also a very important step to have these versatile players. You can put Kai anywhere in the front. We get along very well on and off the pitch, but that also applies to everyone else on offense.”

Havertz's versatility is also a feature that was widely praised by former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard. Whilst the German never quite managed to find his best form under the ex-Blues midfielder, it is clear he already had an idea of his attacking potential having initially brought him to Stamford Bridge.

Speaking in September 2020, he said: “Kai, with his qualities, is flexible to play in different positions; I haven’t changed my view in a few days of seeing him so I think we can use his versatility.

“One of the pluses when I spoke to Kai is that he is very comfortable. He is not that ‘I want to play in this position, this is all I want’. He is potentially very happy to help the team, he can give us quality in different areas, so it is not one that we have to nail down.”

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