Kai Havertz rejected 14-time Champions League winners before Chelsea transfer

Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro has revealed that Kai Havertz had the chance to join Real Madrid before his move to Chelsea in 2020.

The Blues paid £75m (€85m at the time) to lure a 21-year-old Havertz over to Stamford Bridge but, despite scoring the winning goal in a Champions League final, the German never lived up to sky-high expectations and was sold to Arsenal last summer.

While he is now finding his feet on the opposite side of London, Havertz's career could have looked a lot different if he had taken Carro's advice and joined Real Madrid.

In an interview with Onda Cero, Carro revealed that Madrid were prepared to sign Havertz for €80m but they could only afford to do so in 2021, and the forward declined to wait around for an offer to arrive.

"I tried to convince Kai to wait, but he wanted to win titles," Carro confessed. "We sold to Chelsea. One of the reasons was the ambition he had."

Havertz did win the Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup during his time at Chelsea, but his return of 32 goals and 15 assists in 139 appearances left fans frustrated and, as he entered the final two years of his contract, the German made it clear he wanted to move on.

Arsenal parted with £65m to land Havertz's signature, with manager Mikel Arteta initially trying to use the German in a midfield role. After several underwhelming months, Havertz has dazzled in 2024 as the starting striker.

His return of eight goals is already tied for his most prolific Premier League season - he reached that figure in slightly fewer minutes with Chelsea in 2021/22 - and Havertz has now established himself as a key player in Arsenal's push for Premier League glory.

As for Real Madrid, their 2021 summer transfer window saw Eduardo Camavinga arrive, before the €80m that was set aside for Havertz was splashed on Aurelien Tchouameni 12 months later.

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