The Blues coach has revealed that the former Bayer Leverkusen star was “very ill” with coronavirus earlier in the year, which limited his adjustment
Frank Lampard has brushed off concerns over the form of Kai Havertz and Timo Werner, with the Chelsea boss backing the pair to be top-class players for the Blues.
Havertz and Werner were big-money arrivals earlier this year, and have shown flashes of quality.
Werner has eight goals to his name since making the move from RB Leipzig, but has squandered a number of chances – with the one from a yard out against Leeds United at the weekend the most striking.
Lampard is happy with how the Germany international has fitted in at Stamford Bridge, and feels he will prove to be a “huge player” for the club.
“I’ve got no worries about Timo,” Lampard said ahead of his side’s meeting with Krasnodar in the Champions League on Tuesday. ”I think he’s come into this league, he’s made a big impact straight away. His speed, his direct nature, things he’s creating for the team, the fact he’s getting lots of chances, he makes lots of chances through his explosive nature and his eye to be in the right areas. And that I love.
“I’ve got no worries about him. Timo’s going to be a huge player for this club.”
Havertz had to overcome Covid-19, and given how ill he was Lampard is happy with his transition from Bayer Leverkusen.
“He had really strong symptoms of Covid, he was very ill and struggling for quite a while,” Lampard said. “Some of the players have had it like that, some have been symptom-free so we had to factor that in and that’s why it took two or so weeks before he was starting again once he returned from Covid.
“Going into when he fell ill, his form was fantastic and he was playing some really good stuff.
“He was playing in the No. 8 role, the advanced midfield role, and I was delighted for him because you could see he was enjoying it and then obviously Covid cut that short.
“Long-term, I’ve got absolutely no worries about Kai – in fact it’s the opposite. I know he’s going to be a huge player for this football club, in the Premier League.
“He has all the attributes, all the personality, all the attitude and he’s going to be an absolutely top-class player for me, in the Premier League and in the world.”
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