Paying £65 million for Kai Havertz proved to be a masterstroke. The German international’s contribution at Arsenal was initially underappreciated, but there are some aspects that few of us have noticed since, and I’d like us to explore them:
At first, there was a problem with his production (goals and assists). Some fans, understandably, frequently do not watch the entire match. They only want to see goals and assists. If a player does not have a goal, it implies that they played poorly, which should not be true. And while stats are critical, Kai Havertz does not play football for that reason; as he revealed on Sky Sports, “Of course, scoring goals always feels the best, and I love it, but you also have to do many other jobs.”
Despite the criticism he faced during his disappointing time at Chelsea, Kai Havertz has a clear desire to score goals and generate assists, and he strives to achieve this in every match. However, this clearly is not his sole motivation.
Some expected him to be an instant success, but he clearly needed time to adjust. Despite his struggles in front of goal in his first months at Emirates Stadium, Mikel Arteta continued to play him due to his consistent effort off the ball as well as on it.
Eventually (in the last months of the season), I believe he adapted extremely well to the club, and you’ll always see him connecting up well with his teammates; his 7 assists in Arsenal’s last 9 league games clearly illustrate this.
Unfortunately Arsenal didn’t win the league but Havertz confessed to TNT Sports, “Hopefully, we can go again next year and give Arsenal fans what they need and what they are all here for. It’s so frustrating – it’s tough. Next year we’ll be an even better team and give everything.”
We’ve all seen how important Kai Havertz is to Arsenal’s game plan, even if he doesn’t directly contribute to goals scored. The 24-year-old’s subtle contributions lay the groundwork for Arsenal’s implementation of coach Mikel Arteta’s fully dominant playing style. Havertz is the irreplaceable player on this Arsenal team. I don’t know about you, but I doubt a good striker such as Benjamin Sesko will replace King Kai Havertz in the starting 11.
This Arsenal Havertz, who has 13 goals and 7 assists in 37 games, is the one Chelsea wanted when they paid £75 million to bring him to the Premier League, and now he has settled under Arteta, surely we can expect even more next season…
Sam P
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Imagine if we paid 65 million on a proper number 9 ,maybe we might have won the league .
While Kai as been a solid addition he is definitely not a top striker ,he’s a fumbler in front of goal and not a natural finisher.
oh yes and which £65m striker was that then?
the striker talk 12 months ago was the like of Ivan Toney, more than £65m and pants as it turns out, we would have done worse not better
no one on JA 12 months ago suggesting we should beat Sporting Lisbon to Coventry striker Gyrokeres, simply no one saw that coming
Osihmen cost twice as much so impossible financially as we had to loan Raya remember as no money left
or are you suggesting we should have prioritised a striker over Rice? again we would have finished worse not better
and that of course ignores the role Havertz played in the intense high press and interceptions that characterised our 2024 PL turn around, Ivan Toney ain’t doing that!
at what point do parts of the fan base give up on the Havertz hate scapegoat routine and accept it is not a blame game narrowly missing out to Man C the best team in PL history (not striker on this planet would change that except the one Man C have)
Plenty of strikers out there that if given as many chances as Kai would have produced better numbers with the players behind him .
Simple really Kai is not a striker .
And Ben white was not a left back either, look how that turn out to be. If you look at Havertz number in 2024 Compare to other strikers you will not find many better.
Your right he was never a left back
Atleast you got something right .
I got everything right, you can’t find many better strikers in 2024 either.
“I got everything right “
If you say so .
Prem goals
Isak- 21 goals
Solanko -19 goals
Watkins -19 goals
Min -17 goals
Mateta -16 goals
Kai -13 goals
That’s 5 strikers playing for inferior teams that have blown your “better strikers “out the window .
Like I said above he is definitely not a striker as he wastes to many chances .
In 2024? Im not talking about 23/24 season only one he last half. Havertz played in midfield the first half
A seasons a season buddy for 65 million even him playing in midfield (advanced)you would expect more .
IMO he’s wasteful and not a striker ,even some of his goals have been aimed right through the keeper and gone in .
“no one on JA 12 months ago suggesting we should beat Sporting Lisbon to Coventry striker Gyrokeres, simply no one saw that coming”
Have to say, I clearly remember Grandad strongly suggesting we sign him while he was at Coventry. He said it many times.
Yet it he s played in the championship and now the Portuguese league and you think he would be able to transfer that form to the prem ,just look at Viera .
Not saying he couldn’t but a fee in the region of 60-70 million seems like a complete guess .
I have no idea about gyokeres, honestly – just remember Grandad recommending him.
It shouldn’t be a complete guess with the scouting info, but they can never know for sure, I suppose.
Yes Davi, I remember Grandad recommending him.
He also said Tierney was the best LB in the world and when I suggested we could do better and Arteta should sell ,
Him
And Jonny boy said I knew nothing about football ,strange old world .
Yeah I disagree with him and many others on Tierney – seem to remember him getting rinsed by a few wingers, so the idea of him being world class always seemed a bit ott to me. Has plenty of qualities, but he didn’t look *that* good to me, even when he was fit.
So the author already dismisses Sesko before he ever joins the club or kicks a ball?
If you are sold on Havertz, then fine for you it’s your opinion. If you are trying to sell Havertz and convince others it is your freedom to do so.
Bit of free advice though, good players don’t need convincing to show how good they are.
Saliba, Rice, Odegaard, Gabriel, White don’t need continuous articles to convince others.
Havertz has been an improvement on toothless Nketiah and Jesus, but that doesn’t mean he is elite or top class.