Chelsea star WANTS OUT as Real prepare to pounce

Tom Hancock

• 6 Jun 2023 15:46 BST
• 3 min read

Real Madrid will intensify their efforts to sign Kai Havertz from Chelsea in the coming days, as they look to fill the void left by Karim Benzema’s departure.

Benzema confirmed last week that he will leave Real when his contract expires at the end of this month, having been increasingly strongly linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League.

Los Blancos had hoped to get one more year out of their captain and main goal threat – but the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner has decided to call time on his Bernabeu career, meaning the 14-time European champions must enter the market for a new centre-forward this summer.

READ: Real Madrid target 'value for money' Chelsea FLOP

And, according to Fabrizio Romano, Real will ‘insist’ on bringing Havertz to the Bernabeu – with the German international said to be keen on such a switch.

Chelsea are reportedly open to selling Havertz – who our in-house Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) model currently rates at €71.1m.

The 24-year-old – who has won 34 caps for Germany joined the Blues from Bayer Leverkusen for €80m three years ago.

READ: Karim Benzema’s FIVE best Premier League options after leaving Real Madrid

How would Havertz fill Real's hole?

While Havertz hasn’t exactly torn it up for Chelsea – scoring double figures in only one of his three seasons at Stamford Bridge – he has bagged some significant goals for the Blues, most notably the winner in their 2021 Champions League final victory over

Manchester City.

But, in Havertz’s defence, he is not an out-and-out striker; he cannot reasonably be expected to carry the bulk of a team’s goalscoring burden.

And that makes the possibility of Real bringing him in as a Benzema replacement rather peculiar – especially when the likes of Harry Kane and even Kylian Mbappe might be within their reach.