Havertz claims supporters expected him to be 'the new Ronaldo'

Kai Havertz believes supporters unfairly expected him to be 'the new Cristiano Ronaldo' after moving to Chelsea last summer.

The 22-year-old joined the Blues from Bayer Leverkusen in an £89million deal in September but endured a difficult start at Stamford Bridge, scoring just one goal in his first 23 Premier League appearances.

Ronaldo also moved to the Premier League early on in his career, signing for Manchester United in 2003 aged 18.

The Portugal star only scored six goals in his first season at Old Trafford but went on to net 118 goals in 292 appearances before leaving for Real Madrid, and has also gone on to score another 551 club goals in the Spanish capital and at Juventus.

But Havertz - who finished the season by scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final - claims he was expected to match Ronaldo and hit the ground running in England.

'People expect you to be the new Cristiano Ronaldo,' Havertz - who scored nine goals and recorded as many assists across all competitions for Chelsea - told German outlet Suddeutsche Zeitung.

'But it won't be that fast, everything is new and I really didn't play my best football at the beginning.

'I felt a completely different pressure than before in Leverkusen.'

Havertz's form towards the end of the campaign for Thomas Tuchel's men - which culminated with that goal against Manchester City in Porto - earned him a spot in Germany squad for Euro 2020.

Joachim Low's men kick off their Euros campaign against current world champions France on Tuesday in Munich.

And while Havertz says winning the Champions League has boosted his confidence, he admits it will count for little if Die Mannschaft fail to compete for international silverware this summer.

'We're with the national team, we have different processes and different goals here,' said Havertz.

'Of course, this title gives me tailwind and a lot of self-confidence, but there's no point in feeling like a Champions League winner if you screw up the European Championship afterwards.'