Chelsea Target Kai Havertz 'Ready to Wait' to Seal Real Madrid Move Next Summer
By Tom Gott
Bayer Leverkusen star Kai Havertz is open to remaining with the club for one more year in order to seal his 'dream' move to Real Madrid.
The 21-year-old is one of the most in-demand players around, with Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Liverpool among those rumoured to be considering a deal which could be worth close to the £90m mark.
One side who aren't considering paying that kind of money are Real Madrid, who have been tipped to withdraw from the transfer market in an attempt to preserve their finances and instead pursue Havertz next summer. As first revealed by German outlet Sportbuzzer, that wouldn't be a problem for the German.
The report, which has since been backed up by Marca, states that Havertz has made it clear to everyone around him that he wants a move to Real in order to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Toni Kroos, and he is ready to wait another year to get his wish.
Madrid are believed to have made a bid for Havertz, but Leverkusen swiftly rejected it as it came nowhere close to their asking price, so Los Blancos would prefer to wait until next summer when they will presumably be in a stronger financial position.
Marca state that Leverkusen have reached out to Real to try and strike a deal to sign Reinier on loan, and officials at the Spanish club believe they could use that to their advantage in their pursuit of Havertz.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich are believed to have pulled out of the race for his signature as they would prefer to focus on signing Manchester City's Leroy Sané, and The Telegraph state that Chelsea are hoping to take advantage of the apparent lack of concrete interest in Havertz this summer.
Chelsea value Havertz at closer to the £70m mark and are thought to be waiting to see whether Leverkusen miss out on Champions League qualification and drop their asking price as a result.
The Blues are confident that nobody is going to jump ahead of them in the queue for Havertz's signature this summer (as long as Bayern don't change their tune), which is why they are prepared to take their time with this deal, but any interest in a delayed move to Madrid from Havertz could scupper their plans.