The former Blues defender believes his fellow German requires better leadership at Stamford Bridge after struggling in English football so far
Kai Havertz looks “lightweight” and “not bothered” at Chelsea says Robert Huth, with the former Blues defender saying his fellow German needs a “shake” and strong leaders around him at Stamford Bridge.
Frank Lampard was considered to have pulled off quite the coup when bringing the 21-year-old playmaker to west London. A £70 million ($91m) transfer package was required to prise one of European football’s hottest prospects away from Bayer Leverkusen, with Chelsea fending off plenty of rival interest in order to get a deal done.
Little value has been found so far, with Havertz finding the going tough in the Premier League.
Questions are already being asked of his price tag and attitude, with Huth among those to have suggested that the youngster is not giving as much as he needs to.
The former Chelsea centre-half told Stadium Astro: “It’s all well and good saying he needs to be the main guy but he’s at a big club and he needs to make that happen himself. Now is the time to shine.
“I just don’t like his body language at all, he looks a bit lightweight. It’s his first year, but he looks like he’s not bothered at times. He loses the ball, gives it away and doesn’t work back. It is a difficult time to come in with no fans, but you just want to shake him.
“We used to have Mahrez in our changing room [at Leicester] who got a lot better, but the team took care of him by saying ‘you can’t just do one side of it or 10 minutes of the game’.
“Maybe Chelsea lack that internal leader or leaders where that conversation happens. It’s not always a nice conversation to have when you’re not performing well, but it needs to happen. He needs someone to tell him what it takes to play in the Premier League. Maybe the whole changing room is a little bit too nice.”
Havertz is not the only Germany international to be struggling for form at Chelsea, with fellow big-money recruit Timo Werner also failing to live up to expectations.
He has managed just one goal in his last 15 appearances, with that solitary effort coming in the FA Cup clash with League Two side Morecambe.
Huth has fewer concerns about the 24-year-old forward, but concedes that he is lacking confidence at present.
“He started well,” added the ex-Blues star. “We can talk about whether he should play down the middle or on the wing, but the fact is that he just can’t score at the moment.
“He does get chances. He does get in positions, we have seen it before with strikers, he is in one of those phases where he needs a goal and his confidence builds.”