Former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has questioned whether Chelsea’s record signing Kai Havertz is able to cope with the physical demands of the Premier League.

The German international has come in for a lot of criticism after a slow start to life at Stamford Bridge and Redknapp believes things may only get harder for the 21-year-old when crowds return:

“Havertz doesn’t seem to have got to grips with the physicality of English football yet. Having coronavirus is obviously a big setback and one we wish him well from. But even before that, he looked like a player not quite sure of himself.”

“And at this moment in time, English football is a stroll. If he finds it tough now, wait until crowds come back into stadiums and pump up the passion and the tackles to go with it.”

There seem to be a lot of pundits jumping on the bandwagon in criticising Havertz at the moment. It must be remembered that he is only 21 years of age and he needs time to settle and get used to English football.

It won’t happen overnight and while some criticism is justified, considering some of his poor recent displays, it would be foolish to completely write him off already.

To be fair to Redknapp, he does go on to say that he hopes both Havertz and Timo Werner work out as signings for manager Frank Lampard, although it is clear he has some big doubts over Havertz in particular.