Granit Xhaka has departed Arsenal for Bayer Leverkusen. Gooners would have liked the Swiss to stay another season after his fantastic performance last season, but that was not feasible. Gooners have already accepted the 30-year-old’s departure.
Kai Havertz is thought to be his replacement, but is he?
Mikel Arteta suggests that we shouldn’t burden Havertz with the tag of being Xhaka’s replacement, saying in his after game conference: : “He’s not a replacement [for Xhaka]. He’s not gonna be like-for-like because everybody’s going to be very different to what Granit gave us.
“It will be very different, but Kai has tremendous qualities for our way of playing.”
The Arsenal boss also insinuated he has yet to decide where to field the German, saying, “We will see. We have to see how he adapts and get to know each other, and build relationships. Football is about that, and time will tell where he sees best.”
Mikel Arteta’s comments may be “revealing”, but who knows? It could simply be his way of protecting the 24-year-old. Havertz is under a lot of pressure to prove himself after a lukewarm performance in the Premier League with Chelsea; therefore, Arteta could be trying to ease some of the pressure that the media and football fans are putting on him. Anyway, after his Arsenal debut versus Nurnberg (the game ended 1-1), Havertz admitted, “I’m proud to finally be here.
“Obviously, it was maybe not the best game in the second half, but I am very happy to be part of this group, and it’s going to be a process, and I’m going to give everything.”
It now seems clear that Arteta has a completely new tactical plan for the coming season, and hopefully they will now be completely unpredictable for opposing teams to prepare for. Wherever Havertz plays, I am sure we are in for an exciting season ahead…
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