Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia will sit down for talks with Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voller in the next few days about a deal to sign Kai Havertz, according to Bild.
The German tabloid claims that the Blues are currently only willing to pay €80m (£72m) for the player but Leverkusen are keen to stick to their original €100m (£90m) asking price.
However, it is believed a compromise could be reached with €70m (£63m) being paid upfront, with another €30m (£27m) in performance-related add-ons. Fans on Twitter are not sure whether Havertz is worth that type of money:
Its too much. I dont think he is worth Eden Hazard money
— Marcin Kusio (@bled78) July 21, 2020
It's too much money jor. Give em 50m + 20m related bonuses. Na Coro season we dey so
— Samuel Agunu (@ENAGSAM) July 21, 2020
I'm all in for havertz but 100million seems quite a lot for me….I thought it was 80million even including bonuses….
— tHaTcOoLbOy (@okoyeKennedy4) July 21, 2020
I feel we will get him for around €80/85m including the add-ons and bonuses. We have everything in our favour in this one.
— hajmola.guy ?? (@atickhan) July 21, 2020
€100 million total seems alot. What happened to yesterday where it said €80 million total
— CFC_Panthers (@PanthersCfc) July 21, 2020
It’s a lot, but for Chelsea, and in general a major premier legue club, that’s not really that bad for them. But it’s always nice to pay less than the asking price.
— CFC_Fanatic (@CfcFanatic) July 21, 2020
Hopefully 10-20m of those bonuses are hard to achieve or tied to major success like European or domestic titles. I have a feeling the structure could look similar to hazard deal. Chelsea get to say 70m. Leverkusen 100m. Truth likely in the middle.
— RavenNole (@RavenNole) July 21, 2020
In the current financial climate, you would have thought that Leverkusen would be willing to reduce their demands somewhat, especially with the player seemingly having his heart set on a move to Stamford Bridge.
Reports in the UK claim that Havertz has already agreed personal terms with Chelsea, and it remains to be seen how negotiations over the transfer fee will play out.