Chelsea starlet Kai Havertz has admitted that he was hit 'very hard' by the coronavirus, after testing positive for the illness at the beginning of November.
The 21-year-old missed the Blues' victories over Sheffield United and Newcastle United, and only managed to feature for seven minutes on his Premier League return against Tottenham Hotspur.
Havertz did start in the 3-1 win over Leeds United on Saturday, but he has since admitted to the BBC that he found it difficult to get back up to speed after coming down with COVID-19 in November, and was bed-bound due to the virus for 10 days.
"It was like a very bad flu for me so I think now I know it is very bad for people. Before I sometimes thought, 'ok it is not so bad' but now I get it and I know for older people and people who had illnesses before it can be very bad.
"We all have to look out for each other. To be honest, it was personally very hard."
Havertz also admitted that he felt like he'd 'never played football before' after his two-and-a-half weeks in self-isolation, and it took him a further fortnight or so to rediscover the levels he aims to reach.
"When you do nothing for two and half weeks and then you start training again, you feel like you have never played football before. For me it took two or three weeks to get back to 100%.
"Now I have started three games and I'm feeling good. It takes a lot of time and it took around one and a half months for me to get back but now I think I am very fit again and can start to attack again."
The playmaker started against Krasnodar in the Champions League in midweek, and he will now be hoping to maintain his place in the side as Chelsea travel to Everton on Saturday evening.
Source : 90min