Leverkusen holding fast on Kai Havertz asking price, Europa League stance

Despite recent media reports to the contrary, Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Völler insists that Kai Havertz will take part in Leverkusen’s upcoming Europa League matches, and not just because he has not received any official offers yet for the 21-year-old.

Leverkusen were said to have relaxed their stance on this matter this week, but Völler says that’s far from the truth and Havertz’s immediate future is “set in stone”. What happens after is a different story of course, though we still shouldn’t expect any discounts on their €100m asking price regardless of the economic situation.

“[Havertz playing for Bayer 04 in Europa League] that is set in stone. [And] there will be no corona discount.”

-Rudi Völler; source: kicker via Google Translate

Like Chelsea concentrating on the FA Cup final, Leverkusen are all systems focused on their Europa League campaign, which resumes next week. They have a decent chance of going the distance in the competition, too, especially if they get to count on Havertz, too.

Then again, just because Völler’s kicking up a fuss, that doesn’t mean Chelsea won’t be able to pull off this deal in short order and at a decent price.

The game’s afoot. Who’s got the best poker face?