Frank Lampard has hailed Kai Havertz as a ‘fantastic talent’ and hinted where his new signing will play for Chelsea.
Chelsea completed a £71million deal for Havertz last week, with the Germany international penning a five-year contract at Stamford Bridge.
Havertz scored 36 goals and made 25 assists in 118 appearances for Bayer Leverkusen and becomes Chelsea’s second most expensive signing following the 2018 deal for goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Breaking his silence on the Havertz signing, Lampard told Chelsea’s official website: ‘Kai is a really exciting signing for myself and for the club first and foremost.
‘He is a player I have been aware of for a long time and as a fellow attacking midfield player, I have paid particular attention to those type of players for some time.
‘I was aware of his talent and in conjunction with the club, we know how we want to go forward and look to improve in the right areas, and for players who are going to be here hopefully to improve and mature, but are already at a very high level, he absolutely fitted the bill for us, so I am delighted to have him.’
Lampard also hinted at Havertz’s long-term position in the Chelsea team when asked about the player being compared to both himself and Michael Ballack.
‘It is very easy to make those comparisons,’ the Blues boss added.
‘I know he is hungry to score goals and make assists so I have already had those conversations with him, but I do think we are quite different in our styles.
‘Kai can probably start in more forward areas than I started in. I liked to come from deep as a midfield player, and a lot of Kai’s really good play in the last few seasons as he has broken through at Leverkusen has been in a slightly advanced no.10 role, or slightly wider areas or more in a striker kind of area of late.
‘Michael Ballack was a a good player for us in terms of what he contributed and we have all got really good memories of Bally when he was at the club and what he did for us, but Kai is going to be his own player and his own person.
‘He has his own style and he is very unique in terms of that, which really excites me to work with him, in terms of him going forward.’
