Kai Havertz Joins Chelsea on 5-Year Contract After Bayer Leverkusen Transfer

Chelsea announced Friday they signed Bayer Leverkusen star Kai Havertz to a five-year contract, adding to a busy summer for the Blues.

"I am very happy and proud to be here," Havertz said in the club's press release. "For me, it is a dream come true to play in a big club like Chelsea and I can’t wait to meet all the players and the trainers. Yeah, I am very happy to be here!" 

According to the Guardian's Ed Aarons and Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea paid an initial fee of £72 million, matching what they paid to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao in August 2018.

Havertz is the seventh player to make the move to Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea spending a little more than £203 million total so far on transfer fees.

One could question how much the Blues needed to add the 21-year-old, especially after having finalized deals for Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner. Manager Frank Lampard will have a tricky time balancing the playing needs of Havertz, Ziyech, Werner, Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Tammy Abraham.

However, this transfer in particular was too good for Chelsea to pass up.

Leverkusen manager Peter Bosz said in March the German club would be looking to demand more than €100 million for Havertz. B/R's Dean Jones reported in June nothing had changed on that front despite the COVID-19 pandemic significantly limiting revenues for clubs around the world.

Havertz doesn't qualify as a bargain, but Chelsea's financial outlay is clearly less than it would've been under normal circumstances.

Thirty-three points separated Chelsea from Premier League champions Liverpool. One transfer window probably won't be enough for them to be crowned champions in 2021, and it remains unclear whether Ben Chilwell, Malang Sarr and Thiago Silva are enough to significantly improve a defense that allowed 54 goals.

Making too many transfers can backfire as well in the event it disrupts the harmony in the dressing room or creates a disjointed team on the pitch.

But Lampard is clearly laying the groundwork for the future. Of the seven incoming players, Ziyech and Silva are the only two aged 24 or older.