‘It was difficult for me’: Chelsea new boy Kai Havertz admits he has struggled to adapt to ‘intense’ Premier League football after joining from Bayer Leverkusen… but is confident of success at Stamford Bridge
- Kai Havertz has admitted his struggles at Chelsea since joining for £72million
- The German star says the Premier League is ‘more intense’ than the Bundesliga
- He has backed himself to succeed and believes he has done ‘pretty well’ so far
New Chelsea midfielder Kai Havertz has revealed that he has found life in the Premier League ‘difficult’ so far.
The German ace sealed a move to the Blues in the summer from Bayer Leverkusen for the princely fee of £72million.
The 21-year-old is yet to score in the Premier League and has registered one assist in four appearances – but has got off the mark for the club in the Carabao Cup as he scored a hat-trick against Championship side Barnsley.
Kai Havertz has revealed he believes the Premier League is more ‘intense’ than the Bundesliga
The German international believes his career in west London has gone fairly well so far but admitted he struggled to get to grips with the English top flight at first.
Havertz told Chelsea’s official website: ‘It was difficult for me, especially because the Premier League is a completely different league, It’s more intense and I noticed that in the first few games.
‘It has gone pretty well for me recently but I think there is also still a lot of potential upwards. I want to exploit that in the next few weeks and months.
‘The intensity in the duels and the runs is much higher. It’s a completely different league and the games are very exhausting.
Havertz made 118 appearances for Leverkusen scoring 36 goals before his move to the Bridge
‘The Bundesliga isn’t worse but I noticed differences. It seems to me like there aren’t any average or bad players here – everybody is at a very high level.’
Havertz enjoyed a sensational final season in Germany, claiming 18 goals and nine assists across all competitions for Leverkusen.
The midfielder is expected to start in the Nations League fixture against Ukraine on Saturday evening. The attacking midfielder impressed in Germany’s 3-3 draw with Turkey on Wednesday, assisting twice.