Patience needed for Havertz & Chelsea’s summer recruits, says Cole

Ashley Cole defended Kai Havertz’s low-key start to his Chelsea career and insisted all the club’s summer signings need time to adapt.

Havertz has struggled to live up to his club-record fee of €80m since joining from Bayer Leverkusen. His first two outings have been below expectations, prompting doubts over the club’s decision to fork out such a hefty amount for him.

Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool saw no improvement from the 21-year-old either. He struggled to insert any influence in the game before Frank Lampard replaced him at the break for Fikayo Tomori. The substitution, though, was a tactical one as Andreas Christensen’s red card left Chelsea a man and defender down.

Despite the underwhelming start, however, Cole is certain Havertz will come good in time.

“He’s a very, very high quality player,” the former Blues full-back told Sky Sports.

“It was his first game against Brighton where he had just two days of training with the team, so it’s tough.

“He’s just finding his feet, getting into the team, understanding the way Frank wants to play, but we’re definitely going to see great things from this guy because he’s such a great talent.”

Aside from Havertz, Timo Werner is the only other summer recruit to feature in the club’s opening two Premier League games.

Hakim Ziyech and Ben Chilwell are both injured at the moment, with Thiago Silva working his way back up to fitness. Malang Sarr, meanwhile, is expected to go out on loan before the transfer window shuts on October 5.

But as Cole wisely pointed out, time and patience is essential once they finally do make their debuts.

“How much quality they have there is frightening and exciting at the same time,” he continued.

“Yes, we’ve added loads of quality into the team. With Thiago Silva, we’ve added experience as well.

“We’re going to have to be patient at times to wait for them to gel. It’s definitely looking way more exciting than it was towards the late stage of last season.”

Havertz and his fellow new recruits may get another chance to prove their worth in Chelsea’s third-round clash with Barnsley on Wednesday in the EFL Cup.