Kai Havertz has outlined his ambitions to win major trophies with Chelsea and revealed the ‘big impact’ Frank Lampard had on his decision to join the club this summer.
Chelsea announced Havertz’s arrival on Friday evening after reaching an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen worth around £70million and the 21-year-old has put pen to paper on a five-year contract in west London.
Havertz becomes the sixth new addition to Lampard’s first-team squad, following Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva and Malang Sarr through the doors at Stamford Bridge.
The German’s ability to score from midfield saw him compared to Lampard across an outstanding 2019/20 campaign with Leverkusen and he admits Chelsea’s young manager was a major reason for him joining the Blues.
‘Of course he had a big impact on my decision because I loved him as a player and watched him very often,’ Havertz told Chelsea’s official website.
‘I think I can learn from him as a manager as well and I think he’s a very humble person.
‘He’s a great guy and I can’t wait to play with him and learn from him.’
Asked what he liked about Lampard as a player, Havertz replied: ‘I liked very much that he was very offensive like me and he loved to score goals.
‘I love to score goals as well so he will help me a lot in my position and also maybe on the things I can improve.
‘I can’t wait to work with him.’
Havertz is looking forward to getting to know his new team-mates in west London and hopes to achieve as much success as possible in Chelsea colours over the coming years.
‘I think it’s very exciting because Chelsea have very young players. I know some of them players like Timo and Toni who I have played with at international level,’ the Germany international added.
‘They are good friends of mine so I think this is very good for me.
‘And also Chelsea have very young English players so I think that’s very nice and a big project and hopefully we can have many successes.
‘I want to achieve as much as possible and I’ll try to do my best.’
Havertz added: ‘Of course it’s a very big step for me, a new country and a new culture. It’s difficult maybe in the first two or three weeks but I just want to play football and have fun with the boys.
‘I want to have big success and I think we want to win titles here and Chelsea is always a big club that wants to win titles.
‘I will try to do my best so that we can achieve these things.’
He will no doubt hope to be in contention when the Blues travel to the south coast to take on Brighton on September 14.
