REVEALED: The CRAZY reason why Havertz's Real Madrid transfer fell through

Tom Weber

Updated: 15 Apr 2024 14:46 CDT
3 min read

Bayer Leverkusen's CEO has revealed that Kai Havertz ended up at Chelsea over Real Madrid because of COVID-19.

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For people only familiar with his Premier League exploits - or lack thereof - it may be difficult to believe that Kai Havertz was once one of Europe's biggest prospects. The German was the original Florian Wirtz at Bayer Leverkusen, eventually flushing some €80 million into the club's coffers with his move to Chelsea.

A brilliant attacking midfielder back then, the gangly Havertz was one of the continent's most sought-after commodities in the late 2010s. Had things panned out slightly differently, he may not be viewed as a Chelsea flop these days, even if he is slowly but surely rebuilding his reputation at Arsenal now.

Prior to his move to Stamford Bridge in 2020, Real Madrid had courted the wonderkid, but the outbreak and spread of COVID-19 seemingly ruined the transfer. Bayer 04 CEO Fernando Carro confirmed in an interview with AS that Los Blancos were keen. "There was a possibility with Madrid before the Coronavirus, but the meeting was cancelled a week before because lockdown began."

Real Madrid's interest persists

Despite Real Madrid missing out on Havertz the first time around, they clearly never forgot about his Leverkusen achievements. When it became clear that Chelsea were keen to offload the German in 2023, Los Blancos were one of the teams again associated with him.

Ultimately, Los Blancos baulked at Chelsea's attempts at trying to recoup most of their €80m outlay. Real Madrid were not prepared to shell out that kind of money and instead, it was Arsenal who splashed €75m on him.

Yet even then, Leverkusen were still involved in a deal. FootballTransfers exclusively revealed in March that Mikel Arteta called one of Havertz's former Bayer coaches, Tayfun Korkut, to get information on the player. After talking to him, the Spaniard was convinced that he could get the best out of the attacker again.