Chelsea have been told by a former icon that they already have their own Roberto Firmino ahead of the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool at the weekend.
Kai Havertz, 22, grasped at the opportunity that was presented his way after Thomas Tuchel had decided to give Romelu Lukaku the night off after his ineffective Crystal Palace performance.
It only took the £70million man eight minutes to vindicate the German's trust he had put in him as his movement allowed him a free header from a Hakim Ziyech corner.
Although that was his only goal contribution of the night, his constant movement and link-up play made Chelsea's play look a lot easier on the eye and as a result of this latest outing, has handed Tuchel a massive headache ahead of the weekend.
Initially, it was thought that Lukaku would be given his place back on Sunday but Havertz has now thrown a spanner in the works.
On the contrary, the 28-year-old who never left the bench on Tuesday night other than to do some warms ups during the second half, can arguably say the same thing, considering his two goals at the FIFA Club World Cup this season.
Regardless of which way Tuchel swings in this debate, he will certainly be leaving one player disappointed.
"Yeah, I mean it’s good for me," the 22-year-old made his stake on BT Sport post-match regarding the striking position for the weekend.
"I think we have a lot of good strikers so it’s always good to maybe have a change to not make it easy for the opponent. I think it worked today, it worked good but I enjoy every position forward."
One person who may be able to help Frank Lampard's successor in making a decision for the weekend is Chelsea icon Joe Cole who has made the case for Havertz to start over Serie A's MVP winner of last term for one reason in particular - his similarity to one consistent Liverpool player.
Firmino, 30, has been a key figure for Liverpool in the last few seasons and has played big roles in helping Jurgen Klopp achieve a Champions League and Premier League title win with the Merseysiders.
Despite not being an out and out number 9, his versatility and brilliant chemistry with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane has granted Liverpool to become a slick machine in attack.
A similar thing could be said for how Chelsea attacked on Tuesday night with Christian Pulisic, Ziyech and Havertz linking up well and passing their Carabao Cup final audition in the process.
Culminating everything together, Cole has now made comparisons between Chelsea and Liverpool's versatile attacking options which could match up well on the weekend if the Brazilian is deemed fit and the German retains his place.
"I think he [Havertz] reminds me of a Firmino for Liverpool. That character that knits it all together," Cole said post-match in the BT Sport studio.
"It’s where he finished in that nine position. I thought he was brilliant. He takes charge of situations, plays in between the two centre-halves running across them," he added.
"He held the ball up well for Chelsea tonight which allowed Pulisic and Ziyech to get on the ball. He’s always threatening - he doesn’t make silly runs. This is very important because he has the conviction and belief.
"That’s a striker’s mentality from effectively a number ten, a midfielder. He was at it all night. I think he comes alive in the box wherever he plays. This is what I like, passion, penetration, taking your team forward - that is brilliant."
Diogo Jota has now taken starting reins from Firmino but regardless, Havertz will hope to do the same thing to Lukaku and Sunday could present him another opportunity to do just that.
