Gundogan: Havertz will be even better for Chelsea next season after Champions League win

Stefan Bienkowski

• 11 Jun 2021 14:54 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has admitted that winning the Champions League will be the perfect boost for Kai Havertz to go from strength to strength at Chelsea.

Gundogan’s Man City side went into the final as favourites but in a hard-fought clash with their Premier League rivals Pep Guardiola’s team were eventually undone by a single goal from Havertz just before halftime.

It was the second time that Gundogan has lost a Champions League final, following his Borussia Dortmund side’s 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in 2013.

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However, rather than linger on his own misfortune, Gundogan was in a cheerful mood and admitted that he was happy for his German team mates in the Chelsea squad.

Alongside Havertz, Chelsea also enjoy the talents of fellow German internationals Antonio Rudiger and Timo Werner.

Yet it was the towering forward that Chelsea signed from Bayer Leverkusen last season that Gundogan thinks will benefit the most from winning the European trophy.

“The Champions League win gives players a boost, gives them confidence,” said the Man City midfielder at a press conference.

“Especially Kai, who scored the winner, has been given a massive [confidence] boost, which we can use to help us as a team.

“I’m happy for them, they deserved it.”

Could Havertz get even better for Chelsea next season?

While Havertz enjoyed a good end to the season with Chelsea, there’s no doubt that his first campaign in English football didn’t exactly go to plan.

Over the course of 45 games, the young attacking midfielder only managed nine goals and nine assists in all competitions.

Much of that will be down to him adjusting to English fotoball and then suffering from COVID for an extended period of time. Which will be two factors that won’t hold Havertz back next season.

As such, assuming he doesn’t pick up any nasty injuries this summer, it seems almost certain that the 22-year-old will continue to improve under Thomas Tuchel next season.