Reborn Havertz has gone from Blues zero to Gunners hero ... and leading the title charge
KAI HAVERTZ didn’t split opinion when Arsenal bought him – he cemented it.
The howls of laughter at £65million being spent on a languid, yet-to-prove himself, what-exactly-does-he-do forward were long and loud.
Pundit Craig Burley actually suggested that signing the German had weakened the Gunners, adding that there was a burning hole in Mikel Arteta’s pocket where the cash once was.
He wasn’t alone.
It was a popular take – and one that was repeated in drinking holes throughout the land when his transfer from Chelsea was discussed.
Whenever we – that’s all of us – chatter about big-money transfers, there’s always an accepted line from someone about who got the better end of the deal. It was a slam-dunk no-brainer as far as Havertz was concerned.
There was some sympathy with that viewpoint here – but, for me, there’s always a nagging feeling whenever cash changes hands at that level that someone, somewhere knows something you don’t.
And, in Havertz’s case – perhaps it was sporting director Edu at the Emirates – it looks like that’s exactly what’s happened.
So, it’s time to revisit the evidence and look again.
Why?
It’s not a popular narrative that Havertz is leading the improvement under Mikel Arteta. But nine goals in his last 16 outings suggests that is the case.
What’s more, he’s playing as a central striker, hitting the net regularly and keeping Gabriel Jesus out of the title-chasers’ line-up.
Sour-puss
Again, it’s not part of the usual discourse surrounding the north Londoners, but the accepted wisdom is that they need a focal point – a new forward.
At the time of writing, they are the leading goalscorers in the Premier League – they’ve rattled in 88 goals so far this season and want just one more from their final two outings to top their best return.
The need for a central striker has been a recurring theme, and, yes, every club would benefit from having Erling Haaland in their ranks, no matter what sour-puss Roy Keane thinks.
What Havertz’s emergence has done for the decision-makers at the Emirates is given them options. It’s something for them to think about.
Do they have to swap, change, go hell-for-leather at a plug’n’play targetman? Or can they be a touch cuter and buy someone young with
massive potential who they don’t have to fast-track into the first team?
It’s a lovely problem to have.
And, whatever Arteta and Edu and the support staff at Arsenal have done, they’re certainly getting a tune out of a player who now looks engaged – rather than the detached individual (right) at Stamford Bridge.
Power-brokers
Perhaps the turning point was that contentious game at Newcastle earlier this season when the German was ready to mix it at St James’ Park.
Every team needs a backbone – and Havertz displayed it.
Perhaps what Arsenal’s powerbrokers found – when they did their homework – was that Havertz had been left out on a limb at Chelsea.
Both he and, to a lesser extent, Timo Werner had been signed at the time of lockdown. It would have been difficult, moving to a new country, learning a new language and settling into a culture with only limited social interaction.
It’s been overlooked, but Havertz (above) is very much at the heart of this resurgence under Arteta.
After two seasons of eighth-placed finishes – when Arsenal were 24 points off Manchester City – that lead was chopped to just five by the end of the last campaign.
The club qualified for back-to-back Champions League campaigns for the first time in seven years and were tournament quarter-finalists for the first time in 14 years.
If City stumble this week, they will land the title.
That’s an unmistakable upward trend.
And the facts of the matter are that Havertz has – whatever the popular line – more than played his part.
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