Thomas Tuchel has made an admission on Kai Havertz after Romelu Lukaku's recent absence from the Chelsea side.
Havertz has been consistently starting up front for the Blues in their past few fixtures with Lukaku remaining on the bench, despite him being the club's record signing.
The Belgian international returned to the west London side in the summer, but has failed to bring his Serie A form back to the Premier League.
Tuchel spoke to the media in his pre-match press conference for their clash against Arsenal, and hinted that Havertz has been featuring more than Lukaku due to the latter's recent lack of fitness.
"I told you that he would normally be a natural starter against Crystal Palace from terms also of the amount Kai Havertz played now, the amount of physicality Kai gives to the matches.
"After a period of injury, he lacks the stiffness (Lukaku) and fitness for matches. I don’t point the finger on him. It’s just a fact, it’s not even his fault. It is just like this and in the crucial time of the season where you need a certain rhythm.
"If you compare our matches and see the difference of Brentford, Real Madrid and then Southampton, Real Madrid - in a short period of time you see the huge amount of effort we put in to become again a winning team.
"This is what we need. It goes from there and then Romelu should have maybe had a goal against Real Madrid, missing the luck. It’s an option that he starts. If he starts we need him physically. Maybe he cannot play 90 minutes, maybe to put it all out there for 60 minutes.”
Havertz has scored 13 goals in 40 appearances for Chelsea, as well as assisting five times for the Blues.
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