Kai Havertz gives Chelsea a glimpse of what the future holds in the incredible Crystal Palace screen

It’s a little too early (or too late, depending on how you see it) to say that Kai Havertz has arrived, but let’s light the lighthouses. It is close.

Since his £ 71m move from Bayer Leverkusen, Havertz has shown glimpses of why he is widely regarded as one of the game’s young young talents, but none of those flashes were as bright as his display in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Crystal Palace.

Havertz celebrates its opener | MIKE HEWITT / Getty Images

Havertz worked in a false nine role and was given complete freedom on the pitch, so he could use his awareness of space to drop deep when needed or push forward if the opportunity arose, and Palace simply could not keep up with him.

So many of his girly passes led to chances, including in the build-up to his own goal, which also saw him press hard to regain possession before hitting the ball in the bottom corner with a simple attack.

It was an intensity and calm that we have not seen from Havertz in England so far, but it was hopefully a sign of what was to come.

Kai fully influential with a floating false-nine attack! ??

– Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 11, 2021

Some solid movement made it possible for him to secure the assistance for Christian Pulisic’s first, but without a doubt the best highlight came shortly after when Havertz unleashed a glorious canopy over Patrick van Aanholt’s head that almost offered us the goal of the season.

Having the audacity to try that when things do not go your way speaks volumes of Havertz mentality both in general and during the day. He does not care if things are rough, when he feels it he feels it.

You can talk about the level of resistance all you want (there is no denying that Palace was not in the competitions), but it was Havertz at his absolute best. He wanted things to happen and felt confident enough to pull them off.

What half of football from Kai Havertz ⚽️? ️? #CRYCHE pic.twitter.com/MXgS5c9MTZ

– Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 10, 2021

“I can not tell you what level he will reach or how fast he can do it,” said manager Thomas Tuchel (via the club’s official website). “I can only repeat that when he went out of his comfort zone when he changed clubs from Leverkusen to Chelsea, he absolutely wanted to challenge himself and now it is up to him to show the quality.

He had already shown it against very strong opponents in Everton and Liverpool. He had a tough match against Porto and the speech was very simple: “go and show that you can do better and fight for your place, you get a second chance”.

“He knew he had to be more ruthless when he finished because he has the extra quality and I want him to show that. He’s about controlling the ball, keeping the ball in difficult situations, having some runs in high positions to finish and “He has to show up and show up, this is life as an offensive player at Chelsea.”

Havertz was outstanding throughout Mike Hewitt / Getty Images

For Havertz, the real challenge is to get this level of performance on a consistent basis. He is slowly beginning to build up the much-needed drive, and even though he has a lot of work to do, opposition defenders will start to get scared.

As the spiritual heir to Eden Hazard’s throne at Stamford Bridge, Havertz has some huge shoes to fill, but performances like this suggest he can do it.

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