Chelsea star Havertz would find it 'hard to say no' to Tuchel and Bayern

Stuart Telford

• 30 Mar 2023 11:56 CDT
• 3 min read

Kai Havertz has admitted Bayern Munich are 'hard to say no to' following the appointment of his former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel at the Allianz Arena.

Tuchel was unceremoniously dumped by Chelsea last summer with new owner Todd Boehly describing him as a 'nightmare' to work with before replacing the German with Graham Potter, who arrived from Brighton.

Tuchel had been out of work since then, but replaced Julian Nagelsmann as Bayern head coach just as abruptly last week, with the record German champions worried about Real Madrid and others making a move for the tactician at the end of the season.

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Tuchel won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021, and Havertz scored the winning goal in the final against Manchester City. Inevitably, his name was linked with Bayern following the Tuchel appointment.

What did Havertz say?

"Bayern are generally a huge club that it's hard to say no to as a German player," the 23-year-old Aachen native told Sport Bild. "But my personal goal has always been to play abroad at some point. In England or Spain."

Havertz had been linked with a move to Bayern in 2020 before he joined Chelsea for a club record €80m. Then-Bayern coach Hansi Flick had wanted Havertz, but sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic preferred Leroy Sane, who arrived from Manchester City for €49m.

READ: 'Havertz is the new Robin van Persie'

"It was almost a bit too boring joining Bayern after showing what I was capable of in the Bundesliga," Havertz continued. "Moving to England at this time was just right."

Speculation about Havertz's future has been mounting this season due largely to the fact that he leads the line at Chelsea but has only scored seven Premier League goals in 26 outings this term.

But he is looking more settled under Potter and faces little competition from other players on the books, with Romelu Lukaku back on loan at Inter Milan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the cusp of returning to Barcelona, provided the La Liga leaders can find a way to find the deal.