Kai Havertz hit back at critics of his form at Chelsea with the support of captain Cesar Azpilicueta after scoring the Champions League-winning goal for his club.
Havertz signed for the Blues last summer for a club-record fee for an outfielder of £71m, but the price tag appeared to weigh heavy on his shoulders.
The German midfielder, who has been deployed as a so-called “false nine” at times in recent weeks, scored 38 goals in 87 appearances during his last two seasons at Bayer Leverkusen but has only found the net nine times in 45 for Chelsea this year.
However, the 21-year-old waited for the perfect moment to round Ederson and roll the ball into an empty net, the only goal of the final in Porto, to open his account in the Champions League and earn the Blues the spoils.
Asked if he felt he had “paid [the transfer fee] all back in one night nearly” he told BT Sport that “to be honest right now I [don’t] give a f___ on that, we won the f___ing Champions League!”.
Reporter Des Kelly and presenter Gary Lineker were both forced to apologise for Havertz’s language, however forgivable his emotions running high might have been.
Captain Azpilicueta though was happy to answer the question posed in more broadcastable language.
“Kai’s had a tough season but he’s got a tough mentality and this guy is going to be a superstar,” Azpilicueta said.
“He is already and he’s given us the Champions League. He ran like crazy and that’s why he deserves this.”
For Azpilicueta, who arrived just a few months after Roberto Di Matteo had helped Chelsea conquer Bayern Munich in Europe nine years ago, getting his hands on the trophy was the culmination of nearly a decade of hard work.
“This means a lot. I came here in 2012 after the Champions League win and of course I wanted to repeat that,” Azpilicueta added.
“Tonight it’s just amazing. My family is here and it’s just a special day.”
However, for the likes of Havertz, Timo Werner, Edouard Mendy and Hakim Ziyech, the Champions League victory is an instant gratification for having joined Chelsea last summer.
Ben Chilwell, another who arrived in a big-money move before the 2020-21 season, felt he had justified his decision to leave Leicester City in a £45m switch.
“This is what I came to Chelsea for. It’s a dream come true,” Chilwell said.
”The key was to get tight and be aggressive. I was getting tired as the game went on but when the Champions League is up for grabs, you don’t really tire.
“Everyone defended for their lives. We’ve won the Champions League so I wouldn’t even care how we played!”
He added: “We fought so hard today. We knew it would be a tough game. The second half… we fought for our lives to get to this moment, to have this feeling.”
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3wL6R4m
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