Chelsea midfielder Kai Havertz has opened up on the differences between the Premier League and Bundesliga, admitting that the English top flight has a greater intensity than the German division.
Havertz swapped the Bundesliga for the Premier League in the summer as Chelsea paid £75.8m to prise the wonderkid away from Bayer Leverkusen.
The 21-year-old struggled to make a telling impact in his first outings for the Blues against Brighton and Liverpool, but hit a hat-trick against Barnsley in the Carabao Cup and chipped in with a clever assist during Chelsea’s comeback against West Brom three days later.
Havertz admitted that the jump from the Bundesliga to the Premier League took a slight adjustment at first.
“It was difficult for me, especially because the Premier League is a completely different league,” the German international told Chelsea’s official club website. “It’s more intense and I noticed that in the first few games.
“The intensity in the duels and the runs is much higher. It’s a completely different league and the games are very exhausting.
“The Bundesliga isn’t worse but I noticed differences. It seems to me like there aren’t any average or bad players here – everybody is at a very high level.”
Havertz admitted that he did not get off to the quickest start in west London, but added that his treble against Barnsley acted as a confidence boost.
“It has gone pretty well for me recently but I think there is also still a lot of potential upwards,” he continued. “I want to exploit that in the next few weeks and months.
“The hat-trick [against Barnsley] was good for me. The start was a little difficult because I only trained with the team for five or six days, then played the first game right away. It was also a very big step for me to leave my family and familiar surroundings. Of course, it takes time to get it right.’
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