Kai Havertz is Real Madrid’s latest Galactico. Timo Werner is Liverpool’s big buy, the long-term successor to one of Jurgen Klopp’s feared front three.
It is an alternative scenario: had 2020 not wreaked such havoc on football finances, each might be found somewhere else now as someone else’s flagship summer buy. Instead, Roman Abramovich used his wealth to take advantage of others’ sudden inability to meet asking prices. Chelsea acquired the men who, it seemed, half of the European elite coveted.
And now there is a case to be made that neither figures in Chelsea’s strongest side.
The stats included in this article are correct at the time of publishing, before Arsenal v Chelsea on 26/12/20
Why is Timo Werner struggling at Chelsea?
Look at £48m Werner: Olivier Giroud and Tammy Abraham are in their own private competition to lead the line.
Werner was shifted to the left, which had a certain logic in that he often ended up in the inside-left channel when partnering the target man Yussuf Poulsen in Germany, but that was where Christian Pulisic offered hints of Eden Hazard in the summer.
When fit, Hakim Ziyech looks both the best and most natural choice on the right. It is only Werner’s third best position.
Havertz meanwhile, who cost Chelsea almost £30m more than his Germany team-mate, is the No. 10 in a team who do not play with a No. 10. If the thought was that his arrival could prompt a switch to 4-2-3-1, it appears mistaken. Frank Lampard’s preference for 4-3-3 has remained with different personnel.
His versatility has felt more burden than blessing: he was miscast as a right winger on his debut at Brighton, and as a false nine in his home bow against Liverpool. As a No. 8, he has been outshone by Mason Mount, the local who has responded to Havertz’s arrival by raising his game. Mateo Kovacic, an influential substitute in Monday's 3-0 win over West Ham, may be a more compelling choice.
There are mitigating factors: Havertz was rusty when he arrived, with the deal delayed by negotiations. He was improving when sidelined by Covid-19, which hit him hard. Yet his maiden Premier League campaign has brought a solitary goal and assist so far; after mediocre displays against Everton, on the right, and Wolves, in midfield, he was relegated to the bench against West Ham.
Werner, with four goals and four assists, has been more productive, but he has not scored in 10 outings in all competitions, a run that began with Germany’s 6-0 shellacking by Spain; Lampard has denied it left psychological scars, but the on-field evidence suggests otherwise.
Werner finished second only to Robert Lewandowski in the Bundesliga scoring charts last season, with 28.
Now he is third in a very different table - for big chances missed. His eight is ‘bettered’ only by Patrick Bamford and Chris Wood. The biggest of all, the open goal he missed against Leeds, had an Expected Goals (xG) of 0.89.