CHELSEA want Kai Havertz signed and sealed before the £90million star returns to Bayer Leverkusen training, according to reports.
The Bundesliga side begin their pre-season on August 28 and the Blues are currently the only team thought to be primed to complete a deal.
With Havertz wanting to make a step up next season, Frank Lampard’s side are ready offer him Champions League football and, potentially, meet Bayer’s demands.
That is in contrast to Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, according to Bild, with neither European giant willing or able to pay the required £90m this summer.
That situation could change at the end of the season, however.
It is suggested that both Bayern and Real, plus Barcelona, would be highly interested in a deal next year – where Havertz may be considerably cheaper.
Holding onto the attacking midfielder for another season and letting him go with just one year left on his contract, which ends in 2022, is not viewed as a bad option in Leverkusen.
With the funds and desire to complete a deal soon, Chelsea are therefore in a now-or-never situation.
The Premier League side are thought to be planning important negotiations with their German counterparts in the coming days.
And Havertz could then sign a five-year contract worth £175,000-a-week after tax.
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With Leverkusen’s season finally over when knocked out of the Europa League last week, progression is expected to be made over the deal.
After the defeat to Inter Milan, CEO Fernando Carro admitted that the 21-year-old wants to move on.
He told KSTA: “It was always clear that there would be talks as soon as the Europa League ended for us.
“Kai has expressed a wish to take the next step. Whether this will work in the near future or not, I can’t say at the moment.”
