Chelsea struggled last season, but even so, some of their stars are hotcakes in the transfer market: Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Marc Cucurella, and Mateo Kovacic are all linked with moves this summer. Of these Chelsea stars, Arsenal were interested in Mount but now have their eyes on Kai Havertz.
The Gunners’ bid to bring the German on board is progressing well, and there’s talk the two clubs are in contact about the transfer and likely to reach a compromise on how much the deal could cost. The player is dead set on moving to the Emirates, as he has already reportedly agreed on personal terms to be a Gunner.
By now, it is almost certain Havertz will join, and if he does, there is one thing many are eager to see: this is where the 24-year-old plays. There’s talk that he could play as the lead striker, or take over the Xhaka role and play the No. 8 role alongside Odegaard.
As Gooners debate where the potential £60 million arrival could be unleashed in Arteta’s line-up, Craig Burley has brought another interesting aspect to Havertz at Arsenal. The ESPN pundit is insinuating the Chelsea forward could be benched at the Emirates even after joining for a record fee, has questioned whether Havertz could be afforded the chance to start in Arsenal’s best line-up.
“If Arsenal were to play the same way as last year, he won’t get in the team,” said Burley.
“He doesn’t get in ahead of [Gabriel] Martinelli; he doesn’t get in ahead of [Gabriel] Jesus as a striker.
“And he certainly doesn’t get in ahead of Bukayo Saka.
“Then you start looking at; are Arsenal paying £70m to beef the squad up? Which effectively you might say that Man City have done that; they got [Jack] Grealish, and they got [Riyad] Mahrez.
“A £70 million player used to be a superstar; we could contend now that they could be a squad player.
“He’s really lost his way, to an extent where Chelsea couldn’t score goals; he couldn’t even get a game in a team that had literally no strikers.
“And now we have Arsenal talking about paying this kind of money for him. It doesn’t add up.”
Do you think Havertz is a guaranteed starter if he successfully joins Arteta’s project? And who could he replace?
Darren N