Hope for Chelsea as Real Madrid legend backs Havertz

Stuart Telford

• 10 Jun 2023 09:37 BST
• 3 min read

Real Madrid have reportedly cooled their interest in Chelsea attacker Kai Havertz, but Los Blancos legend Toni Kroos rates his German compatriot highly.

Chelsea fans were excited last week to learn that Madrid were prepared to pay up to €60 million for a player who managed just seven goals in 35 Premier League games last season whilst leading the line for the Blues.

Real are in the market for a new striker with Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema having departed for Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, and Havertz is regarded as a player who could help balance their forward line in his absence.

READ: Havertz to replace Benzema?! Real Madrid must be kidding

Real gave scouted Havertz since his days as a prodigious attacking midfielder with Bayer Leverkusen, but a closer inspection if his goalscoring stats since becoming a striker might have given them pause, especially with Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane potentially available.

New priorities

Kane and Kylian Mbappe have moved back to the top of Real's shopping list, putting a move for Havertz on the backburner, but his would-be teammate Kroos would like to see him at the Santiago Bernabeu.

"If I had to choose someone from Chelsea who was dangerous, Kai would come first," he said, as reported by SportBild. "I think very, very highly of Kai. In terms of his football ability and as a person."

READ: When does the contract of every Real Madrid player expire?

Kroos holds significant sway at the Bernabeu having won four Champions Leagues since joining from Bayern Munich for €25 million in July 2014, right after lifting the World Cup with Germany in Brazill, and is set to be handed a one-year contract extension.

Whether that will be enough to reignite the Havertz deal remains to be seen, but having an influential voice in the dressing room won't hurt his cause. That Havertz can play more than one position is another advantage.