Kai Havertz says he was shocked to see Tuchel leave Stamford Bridge

After a sluggish start to the season that culminated in a discouraging 1-0 loss against

to open their

Champions League

campaign, Tuchel was fired earlier in September.

Recently,

Antonio Rudiger

, the Real Madrid player who left

in the summer, confessed that he was shocked to see Tuchel leave Stamford Bridge. Teammate Havertz of Germany also expressed astonishment at Tuchel's departure.

"Me too," Havertz told Kicker. "Especially when you consider how we’ve played in the past year and a half and what we’ve won. With the current sixth place in the table, you can’t speak of a messed-up start to the season, especially since we have many newcomers who first have to acclimatize. But football is fast-moving; a lot can happen anytime."

Havertz added that

Graham Potter

, Tuchel's replacement, is looking forward to the upcoming season and has settled in well behind the scenes in west London. "Our new coach has made a very good impression; we have a great squad. I think we are in for a good time," he said. Potter has overseen just one game so far; a 1-1 draw against Salzburg at home. On October 1, the Blues will play again when they travel to

.

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