Kai Havertz has confirmed his wish to remain with Chelsea, ending Thomas Tuchel 's chances of reuniting with him at Bayern Munich.
Tuchel, who was appointed by Bayern less a fortnight ago, has wasted no time in turning back to his old employers, as the German boss wants to bring highly-rated Chelsea coach Anthony Barry with him to Munich. The Blues, who are enduring a tumultuous period after the sacking of manager Graham Potter, have told Barry to stay away from their Cobham training ground as they thrash out an agreement with the Bundesliga giants.
Havertz, 23, was also tipped to go in the same direction after recently admitting that he'd find a move to Bavaria "hard to turn say no" to, But now the versatile forward, who Chelsea signed for £71million in the summer of 2020 but has since struggled to live up to expectations, has cleared up suggestions that he's hoping to link up with Tuchel at Bayern.
"I still have a two-year contract, I don't have to move every two to three years," Havertz told German outlet SportBild 's Podcast Phrasenmaher, via Goal. "My girlfriend and I feel very comfortable in London. I love the club, the people and the fans.
"At the moment we're still in the Champions League. My goal is to reach the final again. Football is very fast-paced, you never know what will happen. We'll see what happens in the summer. I'm not thinking about that."
The 23-year-old previously opened the door to joining Bayern by saying: "Bayern are generally a huge club that it's hard to say no to as a German player, but my personal goal has always been to play abroad at some point. In England or Spain."
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Havertz had been strongly linked with a switch to the Allianz Arena when his time at Bayer Leverkusen was nearing its end in 2020. But the Germany international felt that signing for the Bavarians was "almost a bit too boring," having already proven himself in the Bundesliga, with a move to the Premier League instead being "just right."
Fortunately for Havertz, he's now officially been reunited with the man who brought him to Stamford Bridge three years ago, Frank Lampard, after he agreed to replace Potter on an interim basis until the end of this season. The ex-Leverkusen star revealed in his first season that Lampard was a key factor in his decision to join the Blues.
"It was clear to me in advance that the manager would be very important to me," Havertz told Sky Germany. "Of course the club is the most important thing, but there needs to be a good manager, too. That worked very well for me with Frank from the start. The talks were very good and it didn't take me long to sign for Chelsea because of him."
