In the midst of last summer's transfer speculation, there were conversations around what Chelsea would have done if neither of the club's top two striker targets were acquired. While reports see-sawed between Erling Haaland and Romelu Lukaku, the general consensus among supporters was that if the best could not be bought, sticking with Thomas Tuchel's Champions League-winning goalscorer was the better bet.
Seven months after Chelsea broke their transfer record to sign Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan, it feels highly ironic that as Tuchel prepares his team for the second leg clash with Lille, his Champions League star remains the focal point over Lukaku. Kai Havertz has quickly hit the best form of his Chelsea career so far, netting four Premier League goals in his last three appearances.
He has suddenly emerged as a ruthless outlier in a mostly profligate attack, justifying Tuchel's decision to place Havertz as the central attacker since the first leg against Lille last month. It was in that game that Havertz fired Chelsea into an early lead with an emphatic header from a corner, followed by an influential and dynamic display.
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He kept his spot ahead of the Belgian for the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool. Although it ended in penalty shootout heartbreak, Havertz again showed his talent. His four successful dribbles were twice as many as anyone else on the pitch and he also contributed four key passes in the first half, more than any other player. He had two goals ruled out for offside but both were still good finishes.
Being directly involved in six goals in his last five games further solidifies the feeling Havertz is quickly hitting the sort of form Chelsea hoped to attain when spending £71m on him in 2020. The sublime first touch with his left foot to cushion Jorginho's pinpoint pass to win the game on Sunday felt like a significant moment in the 22-year-old's career. But as he stressed in Tuesday's press conference before Wednesday's clash with Lille, there is still room for more growth.
"I'm happy about my form but I am hungry for more," Havertz noted, approaching a game he is likely to start again as Tuchel aims to reach the last eight of the Champions League for the second season running. Havertz has proven more suited than Lukaku to Tuchel's counter-pressing system, being able to drop deeper, connect well with fellow attackers like Mason Mount and demonstrate more traditional centre-forward attributes that give encouragement this role can be his for the long-term.
Bettering his league goal return for last season is a big step before returning to the competition in which he wrote his name into Chelsea folklore last May. What will also please Tuchel is the variety of Havertz's goals over the past week. A back-post header at Turf Moor followed by the easy tap-in, a drilled finish into the top corner from the edge of the box at Carrow Road before the pick of the bunch to break Newcastle's hearts. There's been a little bit of everything.
Wednesday is another chance for Havertz to pull ahead as Chelsea's main talisman, the sort of figure that has been craved for some time at Stamford Bridge. Even if the road getting to this point took a £98m diversion, it seems Havertz is the answer after all.
