Kai Havertz Struggles to Salvage Arsenal Career Ahead of Chelsea Return
Former Arsenal and Chelsea defender William Gallas fears Kai Havertz is already facing a battle to salvage his Arsenal career ahead of his return to Chelsea this weekend. Havertz joined Arsenal in the summer for a fee of £65million, raising eyebrows given his lacklustre performances during his three years at Stamford Bridge.
Mikel Arteta had initially planned to reinvent Havertz as a central midfielder in place of Granit Xhaka, who joined Bayer Leverkusen. However, Havertz has struggled to adapt to his new role and his best performances so far have come fleetingly in the false nine role he occupied for the majority of his Chelsea career.
The 24-year-old enjoyed arguably his best moment in his short Arsenal career to date prior to the international break when he created Gabriel Martinelli’s winning goal against Manchester City, but Gallas hasn’t been impressed by his contributions so far.
‘I’m not impressed with Kai Havertz so far,’ the former Arsenal and Chelsea defender told Lord Ping. ‘He’s done nothing since he joined Arsenal. He may have scored, but that was only because Martin Odegaard let him take a penalty! Havertz hasn’t done anything yet, and I think he’s in trouble.
‘I don’t think Arsenal should have signed Kai Havertz. I think that was a mistake. If you spent £60 million on a striker, you expect them to score at least 15 goals in a season! I don’t think that’ll happen. Arsenal don’t have time! The season may be long, but clubs need results straight away. Havertz was at Chelsea for three years and knows the Premier League well. It may take a while to settle into a new team, but he already lived in London! Players need to adapt immediately – they don’t have time.’
Havertz will be hoping to prove Gallas wrong when he returns to Stamford Bridge this weekend with Arsenal looking to build on their impressive start to the season. The Gunners currently sit third in the Premier League table, just two points behind leaders Tottenham Hotspur.
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