"For me he doesn't do it often enough" - Pundit says Chelsea could look to replace £150,000/week star

Former footballer Glen Johnson believes Chelsea could look to replace forward Kai Havertz in the near future.

Havertz has endured a difficult start to the 2022-23 season, having netted just once in eight matches across all competitions. Several fans and pundits have questioned what he brings to the fore for the Blues, having been deployed in multiple positions since joining the club.

Johnson believes that the German, who reportedly earns around £150,000 a week at Stamford Bridge (via Sportrac), has moments where he looks great. However, he also feels Havertz could be sacrificed if the team finds a better player.

The former England international said during an exclusive interview with Genting Casino:

"Chelsea could look to replace Havertz, yes. Teams are always looking to strengthen their squad. Things change fast in football and he’s come up with some big goals in big games but for me he doesn’t do it often enough."

He continued:

"When he’s on it, he looks great. But in terms of the way he players, he looks slow and it looks lazy. People get frustrated but he’s not lazy, that’s just the way he plays."

Johnson, who won the Premier League and EFL Cup during his time with the Blues between 2003 and 2007, concluded:

"Players at the top level, if they don’t perform there is always the risk of being replaced."

Havertz won over many of his club's supporters after scoring the winner in the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League final. However, he struggled to build on that last season, scoring just 14 goals and laying out six assists in 47 matches across all competitions.

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Chelsea's Kai Havertz will hope to regain some confidence during the international break

Despite his inconsistencies, Havertz was a common feature in former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel's starting line-up. However, the German tactician departed Stamford Bridge earlier this month and it remains to be seen if that will impact the attacker's playing time.

Havertz started Graham Potter's first match in charge of the Blues against RB Salzburg in the Champions League last week. He recorded no shots on target, completed none of his three dribbles and found a teammate with only 71% of his passing attempts.

The former Bayer Leverkusen attacker was eventually sacrificed in the 66th minute and replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Despite his tepid start to the season, Havertz has been named in Hansi Flick's Germany squad for their upcoming UEFA Nations League matches. A couple of good performances for Die Mannschaft could provide him with some much-needed confidence before he returns to Chelsea.