Was Kai Havertz the right investment to make?
Kai Havertz joined Arsenal this summer from rival London club Chelsea in what was a shock signing for Arsenal fans. Some were skeptical on how he would fit into Areta’s system and why we went full pelt for him, with plenty of other options in the transfer market.
But it was clear to Arsenal fans that Arteta was the driving force behind his signing and as the season has gone by, in my opinion he has got better and better.
Coming from a rival club wouldn’t have been easy and with Arsenal fans being one of the most passionate about their club, Havertz himself might have been worried about how fans would take his signing. He probably didn’t expect Arsenal fans to get right behind him and he was not appreciated and was labelled “a Chelsea flop”. It was always going to take Havertz a bit of time to settle in and get going and he had to deal with a lot of stick right from the start..
Recently he’s seemed a lot more himself and looks to have settled in a lot more. He looks to be starting to properly find his feet, scoring in the last two games, and when on the pitch looks a lot more confident than earlier in the season. Coming on as a sub against Brentford and scoring the winning goal that saw up go to the top of the League, and then scoring our opening goal against RC Lens in The Champions League that ultimately saw us automatically qualify for the round of 16.
Personally, I found it a bit odd when the news started to break that we were interested in Havertz and honestly, I thought we could have out the money towards maybe two younger upcoming players to strengthen our squad a bring a lot of depth but now I look back on it, I’m starting to think that Arteta made the right decision and it might have taken a little longer than what was expected but Havertz now seems to fit perfectly into the Arsenal squad and you have to admit that Arteta’s scouting has worked out.
We currently sit top of the League and with only a few more games to go this year, every game is a must-win from here forward. Arsenal will need the strength in depth, quality and experience if they want to lift this year’s Premier League trophy and I think Havertz has become a big part of that.
With Champions League experience and pure quality, starting or on the bench, Havertz seems to be making a difference and Arsenal fans will be hoping he continues to do so.
What’s your thoughts Gooners? Do you now believe that Havertz the right investment?
Daisy Mae
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Not yet, but many fans could surely guess what Arteta plans to do with Havertz in the starting lineup
Exactlly👍 Not yet, we need more outstanding performance s against top opposition in Epl and second phase in UCL.
Havertz is improving every game and that’s good to see. To be fair fans on the ground have been extremely supportive and the ones online really wanted him to be eased to the team or at least earn his starts . Their was too much pressure and the price tag didn’t help. He had a wonderful cameo off the bench and earned his start against lens, that’s the much we ask for! play the players on form. I hope he builds on the past three games. Onwards and upwards
He’s been a complete passenger for the whole beginning of the season but has improved tremendously in the past 2 matches. I think his performance against Lens was his best so far. I hope he continues to improve.
If 10 matches of underwhelming performances wasn’t long enough to write him off, then the 2 great matches recently are not enough to “accept” Havertz as a good buy yet.
Not at all. To be fair MA could have signed a better player with that amount of money. Football now has evolved. Its who the manager wants to work with. I still believe keeping Balogun would have been a wiser choice than spending on Kai. I hope admin will allow my comment because each time i criticize Kai or MA they make sure it doesn’t appear.
They are waiting for him to concede a penalty or score an own goal for them to complain.
The jury is still out….
OT: Has Dan Smith posted the prediction table.
I really enjoy this part even though I am doing badly. Last week I only got 4 points.
Not yet Indian Gunner, guess should be out in the next hour
we spent 65m on him i still believe we could have gotten a better player initially my thoughts were we would go for szboslai but we didnt, i have no problem with havertz but i wanted him to be eased into the team because lets face it he was a passenger and he was slowing down our attack, you can see him getting better and better thats a big positive but stars should earn the right to play, not the other way round, i still tink 65m for haverts and that wage of 300k is much for him well i hope we get the best value out of him
It was always going to take time for him to find his feet. He hasn’t played midfield much for the last 3 years and completely lost his confidence at Chelsea. He is the best we have at playing that Xhaka role though; starting to time the runs better and most importantly put away the chances. Here’s hoping it continues!!
If the plan is to play Havertz in the midfield as an 8, then I think we could have found a player better suited to the position for the cost of 65 million.
Arteta himself admitted at his transfer that he “didn’t know where he fits in.” This apparently shows that versatility was more of a priority to Arteta than a dedicated midfielder, whether playing B2B or DM.
Time will tell if versatility or a proper midfielder was the right choice. Presently we are tops, but we were tops 93% of last season as well.
I hope Havertz does work in midfield, because currently we have no proper backups for DM or B2B. Partey is injured too often, and Jorginho & Elneny are neither competition nor solutions as long term cover.
Until he learns to keep the ball rather than lose it easily to the opposition, I will still keep my reservations about Havertz.
It will take more than fairly passable performances in two games to persuade me.
I still believe we spent way too much money for his services. Not his fault though, but that’s what it is.
I have to ask, with exasperation. How do two above average performances out of a total 16, make one a good signing? Why are some people so ready to drop standards just to accommodate Havertz? Had this guy been on trials, he would have failed with distinction. Please give us a break with Havertz. The headache was just subsiding.
When did we move on from “let’s give him time to settle,” to branding him a good signing. A good buy, a good find, a good acquisition in any deal is one that fits or supersedes its cost.
He has a long, long, long way to go before being considered a good buy.
Though Havertz exhibited an above-average performance by his standards in the recent game, showcasing a slight enhancement in possession retention compared to previous matches, it remains advisable to withhold judgment until a consistent series of strong performances is demonstrated before considering him worthy of a position in the starting 11.
I’m glad that he shut me up a bit as I chose just there last week to speak out against Havertz, I’m glad for the lad and his confidence which now will hopefully continue to rise. I hope it’s a sign that he will combine well with the players around him because I prefer Rice at CDM so it’ll be great if they all work well together
I am one of the few who have given Havertz the benefit of the doubt all along. I was convinced that at his age and with his varied experience he would come clean. Where did I base my confidence? I analysed that a good player at the age of 24 cannot all of a sudden become poor. Earlier, I argued that his confidence had been battered by Chelsea’s poor performances as a team. I was convinced, as I still am, that Havertz’s quality would eventually be regained and that is what we are seeing now. He is still a long way off his best but he has begun to show promise.
Havertz clearly has more time in Champions League hence why his performances should be better there
For PL I think he is now being used as he should…Plan B off the bench in big games and starter to give a rest to First XI in the weaker games.
Is he worth £65mn ..no. Were there better players for that money…probably. But :
A) he is a Gunner now so let’s support him
B) Arteta didn’t set the transfer price nor agree it. He told Edu the type of players he wanted . For £65mn he probably thought he had to start him…
There’s absolutely nothing binding on Arteta to play a substandard player. Let’s stop shifting blame from the person responsible for getting the player; Arteta wanted Havertz and that’s who he got. He accepted him with the valuation Chelsea put on him, hence the need for him to play him. Edu is not signing players that the coach doesn’t want.
He is the top earner in the team and should should be carrying the team and not being carried by the team. He did well in the last two matches but that is still waaaaay below the expectations. I hope he eventually plays according to his valuation
Havertz season will be a success if he scores 8 to 10 goals or more from midfield position the way arteta think about Havertz will always be different with fan’s thinking.
Daisy is being far too prematyure in laudind thre slightly improved HAVERTZ over the last TWO GAME AONLY as a a big success.
I have read all the posts above mine and almost all say it is far too soon to go overboard on a player who cost £65 mill and who has Been awarded an obscene wage too.
Not MY idea of a successful buy, nor of value for money.
For all that money we could and SHOULD have bought far better a player!!
On this one, Jon, let’s agree to disagree. I predicted that Kai would be a better player than most people thought, and I believe it is beginning to show. Why was I convinced that that would be the case? The answer lay in simple analysis of the issues that had caused his dip in form. Havertz, like many other Chelsea players, became victims of a team in decline! They lost confidence in both the team and, subsequently, themselves. Once one loses confidence in oneself, one is destined to fail in all one does. I believe that is what happened to Kai. Matters were not helped by the impatience of our fans, who wanted him to be an instant success because of the high transfer fees paid for him! The fact is that human beings should not be treated like machines, where you expect a more expensive vehicle to, instantly, perform better than a cheaper one. Oftentimes, human beings need time to adapt to new situations and new colleagues. Thus, it is not fair to always expect all new players to hit the ground running. Some will take time to adapt while others may fail to adapt altogether. It is good that Havertz has started to adapt and perform according to expectations.
Ok then DAVID. I do however see the sound sense on what your post says, though only speaking generally.
But I personally do NOT see the qualities specifically in HAVERTZ which you see.
I would put it this way on HAVERTZ and on almost all Prem level players: they plainly do have talent OR ELSE they would not be playing in the Prem at all.
But do they have the character to rise above all the many frustrations that playing in a team which does not allow them to thrive- I refer to Chelsea in his case- arises?
I believe that his three fallow years there were a poor sign of character and for that for the £65 mill we spent AND the hugely unwise massive wage contract he was awarded, we COULD and SHOULD have bought a far more effective and hungrier player with more character and will to win.
Yes, I agree that his last two games have shown an upturn in his effectiveness . But I caution against the far too soon re -writing of his all round effectivenes and suggest that we need to wait for a far longer decent spell of form before changing our minds on him.
I am nowhere near doing that and doubt I ever will, even though I would LOVE to be proved wrong. And PERHAPS I will be wrong.
But right now I doubt it, IF WE ARE SPEAKING OF THE LONG TERM, AS WE OUGHT TO BE
Completely agree with you Jon. I’d like to also add, that I wasn’t overblown with his performance against Lens. Yes he scored the opener but during the game, what I saw was a player that wasn’t helping turn defence into attack. Too many times he had the space to turn but instead just passed straight back to our players that just passed to him which were trying to push forward. Also, when our defence was looking for an outlet to pass to or when fullback/winger was being pressed his positioning was of someone that didn’t want to receive the ball. He looks like he was deliveretly snookering himself behind an opposition player! Is this a confidence issue? I’m not sure if it is, I think more a fear of being found out that he’s not that good. Like you, I’d love to be proved wrong and deep down in my heart I hope he turns into a monster player for us but my mind thinks otherwise. I do wish him the best of luck though and truly hope he succeeds in proving us both wrong!
Kai has improved recently but the jury is still out
I hope he can continue improving
Even Frimpong flattered to deceive with a few eye catching performances… For 65 Mill he has to do way more way more consistently yo be considered a good buy
Anything to reignite the same tired conversation I guess. Whatever happens his contribution will be marginal with some decent performances and a few more crappier ones. As mentioned by the wise heads above,, why did we pay so much for him when there were better players available. Budget conscious clubs such as Brighton and Napoli can build highly competitive teams for that kind of money.
Two goals against a team that was promoted a few years ago and a French pub team doesn’t justify splashing over 60 mil on Havertz, do it regularly over the course of the season and I’ll change my mind, for now the jury is still well and truly out on him.