Lampard: Werner helped Chelsea sign Havertz

Frank Lampard has revealed signing fellow Germany international Timo Werner helped him in his bid to sign the high-coveted Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen in a £70 million ($89m) deal.

Chelsea sought the opinion of Werner, who came in from RB Leipzig through his £47.5m ($61m) release clause over two months earlier, which helped kickstart a summer transfer spend of around £200m ($252m) on five significant signings.

Indeed, having introduced Werner into the squad to train, Lampard had a player he could use to give him feedback on what would be a major deal for the club. After a long round of talks, Chelsea finally got their man and Lampard appreciated the input of his new striker.

“I was able to have some conversations with Kai after the buying process happened, or whatever you want to call it,” Lampard told reporters on a Zoom video link.

“I did as much watching of him as a player as I could, and by that time Timo had arrived at the club, and Timo and Kai are pretty close so I could obviously ask Timo a lot about him, them playing in the national team together. So we had very good background on him.

“But again I was very struck in those conversations with him about his humility, and how he is as a person which I love. I love the humility in players who come with the idea they just want to improve and become a success. And I know he has great talent. I’ve seen that in the first week that he’s been here.

“I think it’s important to be clear that before the Brighton game Kai Havertz had trained for four or five days and two or three of those were a build-up to a game so you can’t work that hard.

“Fitness levels for Kai were difficult. They are only going to get better and get better quickly. I’ve seen lots of his talent and have no doubt the impact he will have as a Chelsea player.”

After making their debuts against Brighton on Monday night, Havertz and Werner will both likely start against Liverpool on Sunday in the Premier League.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have made a major signing in bringing in Thiago from Bayern Munich in a £27m ($35m) deal . The midfielder excelled against Chelsea in the Champions League as the eventual European champions knocked out the Blues in a 7-1 rout over two legs.

The Spain international won’t be available for Sunday’s game but Lampard admits his admiration for the midfield maestro.

“Thiago’s an incredible player, we saw first-hand his quality on the pitch, personality on the pitch and off the pitch,” he added.

“The quotes from Hansi Flick this week talking about him on both fronts, and when you hear that from the manager who has just had such success with him at the centre of the team, I think it speaks for itself.

“I think he’s an absolute world-class midfielder in the modern-day, and if he does come to the Premier League, he’ll be a big plus for the Premier League, and a big plus for the team that he comes to.”