Tuchel: Premier League perfect for Havertz to realise almost endless potential

Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel believes the Premier League is the perfect place for Kai Havertz to realise his “almost endless” potential.

Havertz, 21, is yet to hit top form for Chelsea after arriving from Bayer Leverkusen for a reported initial fee of £62million in September.

The Germany international starred in the previous two Bundesliga seasons, scoring 29 goals and providing nine assists in 64 games.

Tuchel, who replaced Frank Lampard at the helm of Chelsea earlier this month, praised Havertz for making the move to the Premier League – and he said the playmaker had immense talent.

“His potential is endless, almost endless. It is a challenge for him, and I think he made a very brave choice, you have to understand,” he said.

“I am a huge fan of Bayer Leverkusen in terms of how they have developed as a club over years and years and what players they developed and what quality of football they play.

“But you come from Leverkusen to Chelsea, the culture cannot be any more different. A club where it is OK to maybe be second or third best, to reach the top four and repeat for this on a very high level. Then you go to a club where they talk about trophies and winning titles, it is so open, there is a certain atmosphere like at Bayern Munich they do this every year, they demand titles, titles and more titles and it does something to a club in the atmosphere.

“So that means that Kai has stopped not just to a different country, not only to a different club, not only different team-mates, itself it’s already complicated, he even changes his culture and club environment in a dramatic way.

“And I love it because he is so far out of his comfort zone.”

We keep working to improve. pic.twitter.com/42oBhQ6atp

— Kai Havertz (@kaihavertz29) January 28, 2021

In 17 Premier League games this season, Havertz has one goal and two assists for 10th-placed Chelsea.

But Tuchel, whose side host Burnley on Sunday, believes the midfielder is in the perfect league to realise his potential.

“He seems to be like the guy who needs to be pushed and we will not stop doing it,” he said.

“For him, this league is perfect because he cannot rest and he has so much potential that he needs to be challenged physically also, that it is not enough that he can rely on his endless talent.”