Liverpool & Man City likely to enter Kai Havertz race, Chelsea may sell Olivier Giroud to a London rival to raise funds

Liverpool & Man City likely to enter Kai Havertz race

On Tuesday, after the Daily Mail first reported that Chelsea were interested in signing Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz, the Guardian confirmed that the Blues were in talks with the Germans about the possible summer transfer.

Chelsea appear to be gearing up for a major recruitment drive. The Blues have already signed Hakim Ziyech from Ajax, Timo Werner is set to join from RB Leipzig, and now all focus is on Havertz.

The Times on Wednesday have once again confirmed Chelsea’s interest in signing 20-year-old Havertz.

However, the Times believe that the Blues are set to face stern competition for the German from some of world football’s biggest clubs:

(Chelsea) are in a battle with several European giants to sign Kai Havertz.

Bayer Leverkusen said that Havertz would cost as much as €100 million (about £90 million) before the coronavirus pandemic and the 20-year-old attacking player has two years left on his contract.

The competition is likely to include Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Real Madrid. Havertz has scored 15 goals and claimed eight assists this season.

There were doubts over when Kanté would return to full training, because of his personal health concerns, but the midfielder is now with his Chelsea team-mates, reports @garyjacob #CFC https://t.co/1HJHDGCBBf

— Times Sport (@TimesSport) June 9, 2020

 

Are Liverpool & Man City really likely to sign Havertz?

At this stage in the season, considering the coronavirus pandemic, it would be foolish to rule anything out.

However, there are reasons to believe that the Liverpool and Man City links to Havertz might be a little weak.

Starting with Liverpool, after Jurgen Klopp indicated that the club pulled out of the Timo Werner deal for financial reasons, it seems highly doubtful that they’ll be money at Anfield to fund Havertz’s signing.

On the scope of Liverpool’s likely movements in the upcoming summer transfer market, Athletic reporter Simon Hughes has warned fans that there’s unlikely to be any marquee signings.

Speaking on The Red Agenda podcast, Simon Hughes said:

Jurgen made it quite clear that Liverpool aren’t going to be making many, if any signings this summer. 

Athletic reporter James Pearce has also confirmed Liverpool’s limitations in the transfer market:

In terms of tweaks to the squad this summer, it’s going to be minor. 

And what about Man City’s reported interest in signing Havertz?

The Sun have previously claimed that City are tracking the German international. Back in May, the tabloid said:

Manchester City have joined the £70m transfer race for Bayer Leverkusen star Kai Havertz.

Pep Guardiola (is) understood to be a huge admirer of his talents… Guardiola has sent scouts to watch the Leverkusen star.

🗣 RUMOURS | May 23, 2020

Kai Havertz, Bayer Leverkusen

Manchester City have become the latest team to get linked with a move for Leverkusen star Havertz (Daniel Cutts of The Sun)
✍ https://t.co/rX8yJSnG6A#FootballIndex #BayerLeverkusen

— IndexGems. Football Index (@IndexGems) May 23, 2020

At this stage, however, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that City are aggressively trying to sign Havertz anytime soon.

Instead, Man City’s focus is currently on CAS. If City fail to overturn their 2-year Champions League ban, one has to assume that Havertz wouldn’t be interested in signing for City for the next twenty-four months.

 

Chelsea may sell Olivier Giroud to Tottenham to raise funds

Chelsea still seem to be leading the charge to sign Havertz from a Premier League point of view.

Indeed, the Times today report that the Blues could sell Olivier Giroud to Tottenham in order to help raise funds for the Havertz deal:

(Chelsea) are prepared to receive offers for Olivier Giroud… Giroud has interest from Inter Milan, Lazio and Tottenham Hotspur.

Giroud recently signed a 12-month contract extension at Chelsea. The Times suggest that Giroud could be sold to Spurs for around 7 million pounds.

Aside from the French forward, Chelsea are looking to offload more players this summer. The Times report:

Chelsea will need to trim their squad and could sell Emerson Palmieri, Michy Batshuayi, Jorginho, Ross Barkley and Marcos Alonso.

 

Also see: Why Timo Werner’s Chelsea move is bad news for Christian Pulisic & Man City plan to battle Blues for Ben Chilwell.

Chelsea’s 3-year plan to overtake Liverpool & Man City: Blues to put ‘foot on financial peddle as others hit the brakes’.

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