Chelsea
target Kai Havertz has been tipped to become "an absolute superstar in the
next few years" by German football expert Rafael Honigstein.
Bayer Leverkusen are holding out for £90m for the attacking midfielder, but
Sky Sports understands a structured deal starting at £70m and rising to that
higher figure with add-ons has been proposed.
Havertz is pushing his current club hard in order for a deal to be reached
before Leverkusen face Rangers in the Europa League next week.
On Friday, Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said the club have not
yet received an official bid from any club for the player, but Honigstein
believes the player is well worth the money, should both parties reach a
satisfactory conclusion.
He told the Transfer Talk podcast: "He has work to do and has things to
prove because he's only just turned 21 but he's an outstanding talent,
there's absolutely no doubt about that. He's in a position where he could
dominate the German national team over the next decade, depending on his
position.
"Will he play in the No 10 role and become the new Mesut Ozil or will he
settle a bit deeper and become the new Toni Kroos? He's got the ability to
play almost anywhere in front of the defence.
"If you look at the unique combination he has of technical ability and eye
for a pass, but also having the ability to score and create goals himself,
and his runs to be good in the air, I think the best way to sum it up is
that he's a cross between Mesut Ozil and Michael Ballack.
"Both of them individually in their prime were pretty good players but a
combination of both players in their prime, he'll be an absolute superstar.
All the indications are that he will turn into an absolute superstar in the
next few years."
Chelsea will have an enviable plethora of attacking talent at their disposal
regardless of whether Havertz joins, with Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner
snapped up earlier in the summer for a combined £83m.
Lampard's favoured formation is 4-3-3 but with games likely to be every
three days next season, Honigstein does not believe the Chelsea boss will
have any concerns rotating his squad to keep everyone happy.
He added: "Lampard will have his work cut out trying to solve how to combine
all these players, but it's a wonderful problem to have as a manager. You
almost want to have these problems and considering the fact he had talks
with Werner and Havertz before these moves, he must have a clear idea of
where they all fit in otherwise he wouldn't have gone for them in the first
place.
"With the congested schedule for the 2020/21 season, there will be a game
every three days until Christmas, so I think as much as we might worry about
Tammy Abraham, Olivier Giroud and where they fit in, it's going to be
absolutely vital to rotate and there will be injuries.
"I think every club would want to be in the position Chelsea look to be in,
where they have real depth in key positions, especially up front. It still
doesn't detract from my view that Chelsea have been opportunistic in the
market, signing players who really deep down wanted to go somewhere else.
"Timo Werner wanted to go to Liverpool, while Havertz has become available
only after some of the other clubs who might have shown an interest -
especially the two main Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona - PSG, Man
City, Bayern - haven't made a bid.
"If I was Chelsea, I'd have built from the back, but the market presented a
real opportunity to pick up players that otherwise would've been beyond
their reach this summer, and they've been really clever to get these guys
now."
What next for Mesut Ozil?
Mesut Ozil is facing an uncertain future after being frozen out at Arsenal.
Ozil is the highest earner at Arsenal on £350,000 a week and he has only one
year left on his contract.
The midfielder did not play for Arsenal after the season restarted last
month and he was missing again from Arsenal's squad for Sunday's 3-2 win
against Watford.
Head coach Mikel Arteta has been reluctant to talk about Ozil in public.
Arteta said Ozil missed the first game back against Manchester City for
tactical reasons and he is said to have not featured in subsequent squads
because of a back injury.
Honigstein believes it will be difficult for Ozil to resurrect his career at
the Emirates Stadium, saying: "Arteta seems to have made up his mind that
Ozil is not going to play a part going forward.
"He gave him the chance to come back and he did have some encouraging
performances, but ultimately didn't do enough to hold down a place. Arteta
is in a very strong position as a manager who can really force his views and
choose his personnel in the squad.
"But the problem is that while Arsenal may want to take him off the wage
bill, without his consent and without a club willing to pay the same wages -
or at least a significant part of the wages - it's not going to happen.
"They could pay off part of the deal and release him but that would mean a
huge financial hit with absolutely no benefit apart from saving a bit of
money or they could keep him and hope things could change and he can come
back. But there's a real reluctance of Ozil's part to leave just because the
existing club don't feel he should be a regular at the moment.
"He's turned down an offer from Turkey in the past and I'm sure he could've
gone to somewhere like Italy for part of the wages, but so far he's shown no
inclination to do that. I feel he's within his rights to his wages and I
don't see why things changing for Arsenal means Ozil needs to accommodate
that. I don't see a good resolution. All I see is more inertia and the
situation being dragged out for another season. As far as this summer is
concerned, I don't see Ozil leaving."
'Poker and double-bluffing' in Sancho saga
Manchester United are growing increasingly confident a deal can be done with
Borussia Dortmund for the transfer of Jadon Sancho after cooling interest in
Jack Grealish.
Discussions for Sancho centre around the transfer fee and structure of
payments. It is understood personal terms will not be an issue.
Dortmund aren't budging from their £110m valuation of the player, with £100m
of that up front. Dortmund want his future decided by August 10, at which
point they will head on a pre-season training camp. So would the arrival of
Sancho at United further help close the gap to Liverpool and Manchester
City?
Honigstein told Transfer Talk podcast: "There's absolutely no doubt he would
be a huge improvement on what they have, especially if you think of the
traditional importance of width in the United team. Wingers that would get
the crowd excited and those who take on players, whip in crosses and score
themselves - all these things Sancho will do.
"The stats for a 20-year-old are unbelievable in terms of the goals he's
scored and assisted last season in a pretty talented Dortmund team. The
flip-side to this conversation is that Dortmund want to make a very careful
calculation which is similar to the one Leverkusen are making for Havertz.
"How much is the value of him staying with us? If we have to sell him for
less next year, is that still a deal that is good for us because we have a
better chance of winning the Bundesliga and going far in the Champions
League next season with Sancho.
"That's why they've been so adamant for the £110m valuation being met and
being met earlier because they don't want to get into a situation where they
can't bring anyone in, and they don't want this to be a recurring theme
until mid-October when the window could potentially still be open.
"Manchester United are still saying they are just in talks. It's a bit murky
where both sides will try to get the best possible deal. There's a lot of
poker and double-bluffing going on but it's now down to United to say
'here's the money'.
"The line is the sand that Dortmund have made both in terms of the valuation
and the deadline means it will be hard for them to back down from this
stance. United are going to have to go very far to meet those demands."
top