Signing Kai Havertz will redefine Chelsea Football Club

Signing the world’s most sought-after talent in Kai Havertz could shock the system and redefine Chelsea’s European status.

The last time Chelsea beat the likes of other European elites—Manchester United, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, etc.— to sign the world’s most sought-after young talent was in 2012, when Eden Hazard announced “I’m signing for the Champions League Winner” on Twitter.

The club was at the pinnacle of world football with the ambition and allure to convince Hazard to reject Sir Alex Ferguson’s United, Premier League trophy holder City and boyhood club, Real Madrid, despite entering the race extremely late. The transfer was swift, efficient and ambitious, just as the signing of Kai Havertz would be.

Chelsea is a European giant.

Unfortunately, the summer of 2012 was the last time Chelsea pulled off a coup in that manner, as the club digressed from signing world-renowned talents to high potential players to players like Danny Drinkwater and Emerson in the years following.

Apart from the summer window of 2014, the club continued to weaken with its transfer activity, convincing the now world-class Hazard that Chelsea was not on par with Real Madrid, the club he once rejected. His departure and Liverpool’s Champions League triumph perhaps acted as the wake-up call that the club desperately needs change.

The proof of this change began with Chelsea’s lack of activity in January. After a summer of being transfer banned and obviously needing improvements, the club rejected the notion of signing stop gap players in favour of waiting for the opportunity to lure the top targets to West London. Hakim Ziyech’s announcement was the first step in the right direction; a Champions League quality player in the prime of his career. Timo Werner’s arrival would be the all-important second step; signing an elite talent even if Chelsea wasn’t his first choice.

Ziyech and Werner would mark progression, but signing Havertz would shock the system and make heads turns. There would be a sudden allure in joining Chelsea at the moment, not just recognizing the club because of its past accomplishments. There would be an air of swagger and excitement around the club, an elite mentality that has been missed. Signing Havertz would be a big statement because Chelsea is not exactly deprived of central midfielders presently. In fact, the current mix of central midfielders is amongst the best in the league. It would be sending the world the message that the Blues are signing him because they can.

In the process, the club would be beating every elite club to secure his signature; a German Bundesliga star turning down the chance to sign for Bayern Munich is unheard of, so it would change the entire ball game. It would also send a message to the current crop of players that have blossomed under Lampard’s youth revolution—like Mount and Abraham—that there is no pampering done at this club, even if you have the tag of an academy player. If Chelsea’s ambition is to reach the summit of world football, only players who can match that ambition stay on the pitch.

If the likes of Werner and Havertz do arrive, the current players will have to take their games to the next level to not only beat the competition, but to stay on the pitch. There is no room for whining or brooding; perform or be benched. Competition is the key tool that brings the best out of players and the absence of which can make the club over-reliant on certain players, like Chelsea was with Hazard.

Had the Belgian seen this ambition, been driven by competition for his place, he might have never left the club. Signing Havertz would remind him and the entire world that Chelsea is not just a club, it is the club.The club ready to conquer it all.