Kai Havertz Set to Make Shock Move from Chelsea to Arsenal
Introduction
Chelsea fans were delighted when Kai Havertz arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2020, with the former Bayer Leverkusen star heralded as one of the best young players in the world. But just three years later, he’s off to a London rival having recorded just 32 goals and 15 assists in 139 appearances – though one of those strikes was the winner in the 2021 Champions League final. So why on earth is Mikel Arteta so keen to sign Havertz, especially when he plays in a position the Gunners are fairly well-stocked? Metro Sport takes a look.
Jesus Alternative
We’ll base our analysis on what the Arsenal squad currently looks like and ignore any potential incomings and outcomings with one notable exception. Declan Rice looked set to move to the Emirates but with Manchester City joining the race that deal looks a little more complicated, however for the sake of ease we’ll assume the West Ham skipper becomes a Gunner.
At Chelsea, Frank Lampard, Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter didn’t really know what to do with Havertz, playing him as a striker, No.10, wide attacking midfielder and right winger. Over the last season, the 24-year-old found himself as a makeshift No.9 – the position he also plays for Germany – and though not a natural goalscorer he could perform this role well in Arteta’s system.
Gabriel Jesus scored 11 goals last season – just two more than Havertz – but also got eight assists with his ability to bring his teammates into the game proving invaluable and Arsenal visibly suffered when he missed three months with a knee injury. Havertz can play a similar role and add an aerial threat, thanks to his progressive passes and fantastic work off the ball, skills that Arteta admires very much.
Second Striker
Havertz burst onto the scene at Leverkusen playing alongside a striker, floating around the forward line, making clever runs and scoring for fun, earning favourable comparisons to Bayern Munich and Germany legend Thomas Muller. Given Chelsea’s well-documented issues with No.9s, he has scarcely been able to play this role at Stamford Bridge but he will have that chance at the Emirates – even if he has previously said that he prefers the false-nine role.
Havertz and Jesus could work well together, however that would seemingly displace Martin Odegaard from the starting XI so they’d have to be some shifting around to squeeze the captain in. The Norwegian could move out wide with Bukayo Saka or Gabriel Martinelli benched, but the far more likely option is he’ll drop deeper into midfield to replace Granit Xhaka, though this could put a strain on the team defensively.
Man City Copycats
We looked at this possibility in our Rice analysis but Havertz’s signing really does suggest that Arteta is looking to steal his mentor Pep Guardiola’s homework. Part way through last season, Guardiola switched City to a 3-2-4-1 formation with which they won the treble and Arsenal are also well-equipped to change to this tactic. Ben White can move to centre-back, Oleksandr Zinchenko can go to midfield and Havertz can play alongside Odegaard as one of the attacking midfielders behind Jesus. It’s certainly a bold strategy and it would make the acquisition of Rice all the more important, but if they can pull it off the Gunners will be primed and ready to once again closely challenge City for the Premier League title.
Conclusion
Arsenal are closing in on the shock signing of Chelsea forward Kai Havertz for a fee of around £65million. Mikel Arteta is keen to sign Havertz as he can play as an alternative to Gabriel Jesus or as a second striker alongside him. He could also help Arsenal copy Man City’s 3-2-4-1 formation which they used to win the treble last season. If they can pull it off, Arsenal will be ready to challenge City for the Premier League title.