Bundesliga’s $112M Winger Snubs Chelsea To Play Alongside His Idol In La Liga: Report

Real Madrid are in pole position, ahead of Chelsea, in the race to sign 21-year-old midfielder Kai Havertz.

Havertz, who is currently contracted with Bundesliga’s Bayer Leverkusen, reportedly has picked Real Madrid over the Premier League side ahead of the summer transfer window.

Having scored 15 goals in 39 matches for Leverkusen this season across all tournaments, the young winger has attracted several European clubs’ attention the last few months. According to a report in Sportsbuzzer, Havertz has picked Real Madrid because that would give him a chance to play alongside his idol Toni Kroos, the German midfielder who has been associated with the La Liga side since 2014.

Kroos, after a brief spell with Leverkusen on loan, broke into the first-team of Bayern Munich. From there, the midfielder moved to Bernabeu ahead of the 2014-15 season.

Since Havertz wants to follow the footsteps of his idol, Real Madrid, aware of the youngster’s intentions, is understood to have prepared a bid for him. The BayAresna side has price-tagged Havertz with a hefty amount of $112 million and that could be tricky for clubs that are suffering from a financial crisis due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

While the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United and Chelsea are chasing the 21-year-old Havertz, it is believed that one club that is not expected to pursue the player’s signatures despite him being one of Germany’s most promising talents currently is Bayern Munich.

Bayern, which recently won their eighth straight Bundesliga title, have made Leroy Sane as their primary target ahead of the upcoming transfer market and they do not have the budget to sign both the players.

Meanwhile, Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro has insisted that they will go ahead with Havertz’s transfer if they believe the approaching club would be suitable for the youngster.

“With Kai Havertz, I see that many clubs are interested in him. Kai has been with us for ten years. I see the player's desire to take the next step sometime in the near future. You have to try to find a solution where the player's goal can be reconciled with ours. No one can say for sure what is going to happen at the moment,” Carro added in a recent interview.