Chelsea’s record signing Kai Havertz put in another below-par performance against Everton at the weekend, leading many to question the German’s form and role in the team.
The 21-year-old has struggled to impose himself in games, particularly in the Premier League, since his arrival in the summer, and some supporters on Twitter are losing patience as they wait for the midfielder to spark into life:
Kai on the wing will never work, he offered nothing today
— Kabir Abari (@Gafkon) December 12, 2020
Kai is being very poor… Atm I can't defend him
— Winter❄️ (@The_Sparklynn) December 12, 2020
Kai is not a winger. He is awful on the wing. Simple as.
— ethanmcgreevy (@ethanmcgreevy1) December 12, 2020
I don't get what's this patience with Kai thing?
He was the most hyped player we signed since Hazard, most expensive outfield player ever.
Yet, soo far possibly the worst signing this year. If a player that expensive is playing bad for soo long, some criticism is warranted.
— Skullbash (@Skullbash) December 12, 2020
Kai was very poor he need to fight for games from now on
— Africa's king? (@ABadakoshi) December 12, 2020
Theres nothing special about kai, so average,cant shoot,cant dribble,cant make a complete pass,playing out of position not reason for poor passes.
— @CoCo (@CollinsAfrican1) December 12, 2020
Kai looks too slow, like he hasn’t got up to speed. This may take a bit of time and patience
— Me (@L1410Me) December 12, 2020
The amount of time Havertz played poor passes to James was ridiculous and Werner was invisible again tonight
— Tony (@tonyvialli055) December 12, 2020
Kai always poor
— Nael metwally (@nael_metwally) December 12, 2020
As some fans mention, it doesn’t help that Havertz is being played out of position currently. Manager Frank Lampard can’t call upon either Hakim Ziyech or Callum Hudson-Odoi due to the injury so the German international is having to do a job out wide.
However, despite playing in the role for Bayer Leverkusen last season, his display at Goodison Park suggested he is ill-equipped to fill in on the wing. He was marked out of the game by Ben Godfrey who, it must be pointed out, is ostensibly a centre-half, not a left-back.