With news coming out earlier in the week that Arsenal have reportedly agreed a deal in principle for Chelsea attacker Kai Havertz, it seems that some in the wider world of football are less than convinced that manager Mikel Arteta has made the right call here.
Apparently a deal worth around £65 million has been agreed between the two clubs, and we are now waiting on personal terms and a medical to be completed before the deal for the 24 year old is officially announced, but speaking recently on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily Podcast, Telegraph writer Luke Edwards stated that he felt the ‘jury is out’ on the move given it is not unfair to say that Havertz has not really had the best of times at Stamford Bridge.
“I don’t quite get it. I like Havertz, he scored a Champions League winning goal for Chelsea but, a bit like Timo Werner who went back to the Bundesliga last summer, it’s never quite worked out for him. He’s never been an unquestioned success there. He’s had it in flashes, but I wouldn’t have thought it was a positional need of Arsenal’s that they desperately needed to fill.”
Edwards went on to explain that the deal from Arsenal’s point of view only sort of made sense if Arteta did not actually quite see him as a direct starter, but more of a better experienced option when it came to “strength in depth”, particularly if our gaffer has reflected on the end to last season and felt that we ultimately lost out to Manchester City based on injuries potentially catching up with us right at the death of the campaign.
He continued.
“It’s a lot of money for a player that I’m not sure where he fits into their strongest XI. That’s a big chunk of your budget gone already and when they’re trying to haggle over the Rice fee with West Ham. Rice should be all day every day Arsenal’s main priority, but you’re trying to haggle with West Ham for a fee and low-balling them when you’re paying a load of money for a player that, do you really need? I think the jury’s out for me on that one.”
I am not sure anyone would say a deal worth £90 million was ‘low-balling’, but I also think the improvements we have seen under Arteta have given him some trust when it comes to targets and the role that they will play for us – even if Edwards does not yet see it.
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