Kai Havertz – 60 million down the drain?

Only a soothsayer would have predicted that Kai Havertz would become a fan favorite after he joined in the summer.

The Germany international was largely underwhelming during his stay at Stamford Bridge, notching 32 goals and 15 assists in 139 appearances.

Thus, it wasn’t surprising to see pundits criticize why he was bought, one of such to do so was Shaka Hislop who told ESPN FC after our win over Nottingham Forest last August and revealed in a previous article by Just Arsenal: “As anticipated, I’m really not sure what Kai Havertz offers Arsenal in all honesty,”

“And he stuck with him for the entire game. I can’t think of a single thing that Kai Havertz did of note, never mind making Arsenal better, nothing you can talk about.”

“If I’m Arteta, I’m trying to figure out what to do with Havertz because it didn’t make sense to me.”

 However, he is beginning to prove critics wrong and show the reason why we bought him, most particularly in recent weeks, scoring four goals in the last four Premier League games.

The 24-year-old scored the winning goal as we recorded our eighth consecutive Premier League victory against Brentford on Saturday at the Emirates.

He has eight league goals, with Bukayo Saka only boasting of more, has 11-goal involvements which is the third highest, and has won us nine points this term, a tally bettered only by fellow summer arrival, Declan Rice.

There is no doubt that the German native is becoming a vital player for the Gunners despite his earlier struggles in the first couple of months at the club.

Arteta envisioned that he would be a good fit in the midfield which was what the boss told the club’s website after the signing of the former Chelsea forward.

“Kai is a player of top quality. He has great versatility and is an intelligent player. He will bring a huge amount of extra strength to our midfield and variety to our play.”

However, Havertz has found more joy playing as a False nine which was where he thrived at Bayer Leverkusen before moving to Chelsea in the summer of 2020.

What impressed me the most is that he contributes defensively as much as he does in the final third, makes 0.5 interceptions and clearance per game, the most of any of the club’s forward’s this term in the Premier League, per whoscored.com.

Arteta couldn’t hide his emotions when asked about whether the Bayer Leverkusen product had now justified his price tag after the victory over Brentford.

“I’m so happy. If somebody told me after the first two or three months that the whole stadium would be singing his song with that passion, with that feeling, with that chemistry, I would have found it hard to believe.”

“That’s what happens to good people. He’s an exceptional player. When he starts to score goals like this and everything starts to flow, people feel more connected with him.”

“They see his work rate, they see his intelligence, they see how he plays for the team and how he’s contributing. It’s impossible not to love him.”

Undoubtedly, the boss has now been proven right about sanctioning a deal for Havertz and as a result should be trusted with future recruitment.

Long live King Kai, Long live Arsenal!