'Kai Havertz regrets joining Chelsea'

A huge claim has been about the Blues’ most expensive summer signing after he failed to start again for the third game in a row.

Kai Havertz regrets leaving the Bundesliga for ‘the midfield bores of Chelsea’, says SportBILD journalist Raymond Hinko.

The 21-year-old was benched for the third successive game in Monday’s 1-1 draw against Aston Villa. He replaced Jorginho in the 72nd-minute but couldn’t make an impact on another disappointing night.

Havertz’s exploits in England are a far cry from what he had experienced at Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, which made him one of Europe’s biggest young prospects and convinced Chelsea to fork out €80m to sign him.

More troubling is the fact he has gone 14 games, and over two months, without a goal in all competitions.

“Kai Havertz, even if he doesn’t say it out loud, will have already cursed a hundred times that he moved from Leverkusen to the midfield bores of Chelsea, following the lure of money,” Hinko wrote for BILD.

“Everything went to pieces.

“No celebrating Christmas, far away from his family, trapped on the island, not even strumming a few contemplative songs on his piano.

“Instead, watching from the draughty bench against bottom-of-the-table Arsenal in a 3-1 defeat. Then substituted for the last quarter of an hour.

“A kind of mercy killing. The maximum punishment for such a great talent.

“Havertz will have kicked himself often enough for not returning Bayern’s interest more vehemently as long as coach Hansi Flick was still interested in him.”