If you ask any Gooner where he sees Kai Havertz playing at Arsenal, they will tell you the midfield. If you ask where he’ll be in the midfield, you’ll probably be told he’ll take over the Granit Xhaka role.
Havertz replacing Xhaka in Arteta’s line-up is what many expect, but is it so? Will the German play as one of Arsenal’s double-eights? The footy expert Dean Jones thinks Havertz may play an attacking midfielder role, but he sees Arsenal using a different formation than last season. Havertz has not seemed confident in playing the role Xhaka played last season, as seen in the already played pre-season’s (before the Barca pre-season), and knowing he hasn’t lived up to the expectations he has allegedly discussed with Arteta about him tweaking his midfield role to suit his abilities, of which Jones says the Arsenal boss has obliged.
“As an eight, I quite like him. I’m told that we should expect Arteta to slightly alter the shape next season; it won’t be the same setup as last season; it has been modified in pre-season, and that is so Kai has a defined role that he fits into more easily than it would look when you see the team Arsenal used last season,” Jones said on Ranks FC Podcast.
Jones’ claims have a point, as some days ago, Arteta rightfully admitted that Havertz isn’t here to replace Xhaka, meaning he had other plans for the ex-Blue:
“He’s not a replacement [for Xhaka]. He’s not gonna be like-for-like because everybody’s going to be very different to what Granit gave us.
“It will be very different, but Kai has tremendous qualities for our way of playing.”
It will be interesting to see how Arteta sets up his midfield next season; it could be an element of surprise that may catch many teams napping before they understand what’s going on with Arsenal’s midfield.
I’m sure we’ll find out where Arteta sees Havertz playing when the new season gets under way…
Darren N
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