The next De Bruyne & Salah? Lampard makes a Havertz comparison

The Blues boss remains convinced his big-money summer signing will come good and compared him to two ‘absolute Premier League legends’.

Kai Havertz’s early struggles in the Premier League have been compared to Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah’s respective starts by Frank Lampard, who also dismissed claims over the German’s lack of desire.

The €80m summer signing has struggled to replicate his prolific Bayer Leverkusen form, having scored just once in 16 league games. He has also started just once in Chelsea’s last six outings since mid-December.

But Lampard remains confident in Havertz, comparing the 21-year-old to a young De Bruyne and Salah when they first joined Chelsea. The pair struggled to impress, left London for moves abroad, returned years later with Manchester City and Liverpool respectively, and are now two of the Premier League’s finest performers.

“I can make comparisons to players who were here at a similar age to Kai: Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah,” said Lampard in a pre-match conference ahead of the club’s FA Cup clash with Luton on Sunday.

“They went away, took time and came back, and now they are absolute Premier League legends.

“I don’t want to build Kai up and put pressure on his shoulders, but with young players coming to this league, people have to give them time and patience, and sometimes a little of wriggle room.

“It’s not that everything will happen in a few months or in one performance.”

Havertz made his first start in five league games during the 2-0 loss to Leicester City on Monday. However, he lasted just 67 minutes before Lampard replaced him with Hakim Ziyech.

Compatriot and former Chelsea defender Robert Huth later slammed Havertz’s performance and body language at the King Power Stadium.

“From working with Kai, desire is absolutely not any part of the issue,” said Lampard.

“He has an absolute clear talent. He has a style where if things aren’t coming off people want to jump on, I have seen that in some amazing players over the years. But let me tell you, his desire, the ground he covers in games, is big. The numbers and the data are big.

“Is his confidence at this minute as right as it can be or will be? No, because he’s having a tough moment, as are other members of the squad.”