Arteta’s Arsenal transfer gamble yet to pay off as jury out after Man Utd loss

Arsenal’s signing of Kai Havertz undoubtedly left many people scratching their heads. The German flattered to deceive in his three years at Chelsea but the Blues still almost broke even when selling him to their London rivals.

Havertz vows to give everything for Arsenal

Havertz was largely played out of position during his time at Stamford Bridge. Although he can do a job as a No 9, it isn’t where he would prefer to play.

Chelsea paid an initial fee of £72m for Havertz in the Covid summer of 2020. At the age of 21, he was one of the most talked about young talents in Europe.

But he was not able to fulfil his potential with the Blues due to their striker issues. The signing of Romelu Lukaku was set to enable Havertz to play in an attacking midfield role.

However, Lukaku was only really a regular for half a season before being ousted by Thomas Tuchel and sent back out on loan to Inter Milan. The Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang experiment also failed to work once Tuchel was sacked and Havertz was again the fall guy to play up top.

Read more… Man City fans want ‘season cancelled’ as Guardiola’s side suffer embarrassment

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He was often the subject of ridicule for rival supporters and many Arsenal fans were sceptical when their interest emerged. A deal was wrapped up pretty quickly and they soon had to get their head around spending £65m on a player many did not rate highly.

There is no Arsenal fan who doesn’t want the transfer to work out. It is a lot of money and his value will only decrease if he flops in north London.

But the early signs are not the most promising. Havertz will need time to get used to playing in a new role for a new team.

After a few years of playing as a striker, he almost has to learn again how to operate as a midfielder. He is still only 24 so almost half of his professional career to date has seen him played out of position.

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Arsenal’s new kit for 2023/2024 is a stylish twist on a classic as it reinvents that mid-1990s vibe. A truly modern-looking shirt with a homage to the past, the Nike kit also includes a nod to the club’s iconic Invincible’s side in the finer details while catching the eye with the lightning bolt motif

Saturday’s friendly against Manchester United was the first time Mikel Arteta has trialled his new-look midfield of Havertz, Martin Odegaard and £105m-man Declan Rice. In truth, it wasn’t the best start.

Nothing is ever perfect straight away and one of the main reasons Arteta got deals done early was to enable them to gel in pre-season. Fans are overjoyed with the signing of Rice and will give him some leeway if he is not quite at top form straight away.

However, the scepticism surrounding Havertz is a different story. It is unfair to judge him on just a few outings in pre-season, where players are at different fitness levels.

But Arsenal supporters want to see at least a glimpse of why Arteta pulled off the surprise signing. As of yet, that hasn’t been the case.

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