Remember when COVID-19 was going to drag down transfer prices?
That’s, to put it mildly, not entirely true.
According to BILD in Germany, Chelsea will smash the transfer record for a German player by the time it concludes the acquisition of Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen.
[ MORE: PSG cruises past Leipzig ]
The two sides have been talking for about a week, says reporter Christian Falk.
How big of a deal are we talking? Presumably we’re talking about the most money spent on a German player, and that standard was set by... wait for it... Chelsea this year when it triggered the release clause of Timo Werner from RB Leipzig for about $65 million.
Ousmane Dembele is the record sale by a German club, with Barcelona buying the winger from Borussia Dortmund for approximately $125 million in 2017. That’s rich.
A $93 million price tag was rumored in late July, and a report last week said Havertz had agreed on a five-year contract with Chelsea should the move go ahead.
The 21-year-old attacking midfielder caught fire this season and has 38 goals with 16 assists over the past two seasons with Bayer.
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Chelsea’s attack with Havertz would go from fierce to terrifying, as Frank Lampard would have a quartet of attackers with the ability to play basically anywhere in the attacking third.
Havertz is an attacking mid who can play right wing and center forward. Werner a center forward who has no problem drifting to the left. Christian Pulisic likes the left but does just fine on the right and has playmaking mid capabilities while Hakim Ziyech prefers the right but can come inside and play midfield as well.
Mason Mount is versatile and a Lampard favorite and Callum Hudson-Odoi isn’t far removed from being the talk of the town.
That’s all before mentioning center forwards Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud. Wow.
The Blues have also been linked with renovating their defense with Ben Chilwell, Lewis Dunk and John Stones, and at some point Financial Fair Play will dictate some big sales (though they minted nine figures off the sale of Eden Hazard last summer).
Can Chelsea be a Premier League title contender with this group?
Pulisic -- Werner -- Ziyech
Havertz
Kante -- Kovacic
Chilwell -- Dunk -- Rudiger -- Azpilicueta
Caballero/new keeper
Our Story: negotiations between @bayer04_en and @ChelseaFC for @kaihavertz29 started in the middle of last week. Havertz will become the most expensive German player of all time @SPORTBILD @AxelHesse1
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) August 18, 2020
