Thomas Tuchel has been warned that he could have a ‘huge problem’ on his hands regarding who will be Chelsea’s first choice striker for the rest of the season.
The Blues beat Lille 2-0 in their Champions League last-16, first leg clash on Tuesday, however club record signing Romelu Lukaku was on the substitutes' bench and didn’t feature.
Kai Havertz led the line in his absence and opened the scoring at Stamford Bridge, while Christian Pulisic netted the second to put Chelsea in a commanding position going into the second leg on March 16.
Havertz’s goal and impressive display in the striker’s role could leave Tuchel with a decision to make going forward, according to Rio Ferdinand and fellow BT Sport pundit Joe Cole.
Tuchel opted to leave Lukaku out of his starting XI against Lille after an underwhelming display against Crystal Palace that saw the £97.5 million signing touch the ball just seven times during the course of the game.
Havertz scored after eight minutes to justify his manager’s decision to start him up front and impressed with his movement and ability to link up with his teammates.
The Blues appear to be a more fluid and effective side with the Germany star involved, with Lukaku currently struggling to make his mark.
Former Chelsea midfielder Cole praised Havertz’s performance against Lille, and also revealed that he felt the German’s best position was as the focal point of the attack.
“It’s where he finished last season, sort of in that No.9 position,” Cole explained during his analysis of Chelsea’s performance on BT Sport.
“He takes charge of the situation, gets in between defenders, runs across them and he held up the ball well for Chelsea tonight.
“He doesn’t make silly runs, he plays with conviction, he takes charge of the situation, that’s a striker’s mentality. He was at it all night.
“He comes alive in the box, wherever he plays.”
Ferdinand then pushed Cole on whether he really believed that to get the best out of Havertz, he needed to be played as a striker, adding: “That’s a big problem for Chelsea if so.”
Cole replied: “It’s a huge problem, think about his form at the end of last season when he was able to drop off and runners go and behind him, his best position is a No.9, but that’s bad for Lukaku.
“He reminds me of a [Roberto] Firmino type player, someone that knits it all together, he would have been a nightmare to mark tonight.”
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Havertz also gave his thoughts on playing as a No.9 after the 2-0 win: "It is good for me (playing advanced forward). We have a lot of good strikers so it is also good to have a change and not make it easy for the opposition. Today it worked good and I enjoy every forward position.
"I always give my best also in the Premier League, sometimes you have more luck, sometimes you don't and I help where I can.”
