Richarlison joining Spurs might not be the most comforting news for those of a Chelsea persuasion. Antonio Conte is getting the signings he craves ahead of an important season where even lofty shouts of a title bid are being sounded from North London, which is never good.
Though across London, this news may quietly be greeted by one Kai Havertz.
Havertz, who currently is placed as the most likely name to be favoured as Thomas Tuchel's centre-forward, might have wondered what the plans were for the upcoming season should a reported late hijack for Richarlison had come off.
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Instead, it looks more likely that Chelsea will be bringing in wide attackers, with both Raheem Sterling and Raphinha in talks with the Blues.
This should aid Havertz's chances of finally getting a clear run at being the fully-fledged number nine that was put off course by last year's arrival of Romelu Lukaku. Now that the Belgian has secured his loan back to Inter Milan for the season, Havertz is unlikely to face the same wrestle for minutes.
Pre-season officially starts over the weekend at Cobham as the first batch of players return. Havertz will not be back until the 9th of July, with internationals getting a further rest after the extended UEFA Nations League commitments last month.
But in LA, when Havertz does join up, he will embark on what could prove a pretty defining season at Stamford Bridge. The German has already contributed to some historic moments in Chelsea history, most obviously, the Champions League-winning goal that will unlikely be topped. However, with the need for attacking improvement, Havertz is likely to be relied upon to lead that uptick in form.
He has already shown in patches of form that he can provide consistent goals, offer the movement Tuchel felt he lacked in Lukaku and link well with key members of the first team like Mason Mount. But there have also been spells of less impressive form, poor misses and little impact.
These are natural for a young player, but given Havertz's talent and potential growth, 2022/23 needs to see a more obvious step into the limelight. In a season where his presence is clear and obvious, his influence alters the course of games, and his teammates look to him for game-changing moments.
Looking back at last season, his overall tally in all competitions of 14 goals from the 2021/22 season matched with his xG 14.07, demonstrating a pretty decent level of finishing. However, specifically in the Premier League, he has underperformed his xG in both seasons, whilst in contrast outperforming his xA in both.
Tuchel and Havertz will hopefully benefit from a less disrupted pre-season this term after the forward suffered from barely any warm-up for the 2020/21 season after a late arrival from Bayer Leverkusen for £71m. The three games in the USA against Club America, Charlotte FC and Arsenal will be informative over Tuchel's approach.
If Havertz leads the line as a central striker with two inside forwards behind him in a 3-4-2-1, or an alteration that would see more natural wingers in a 4-3-3 given the chase for Sterling and Raphinha.
The future of Armando Broja still remains undecided following a fruitful loan with Southampton. The Albanian, if he stayed, would be the clearest competition to Havertz's spot. Although links to West Ham indicate, the Cobham graduate might favour a swift exit to regular minutes should he feel a path isn't there for him under Tuchel.
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