King Kai! - Havertz FINALLY starts justifying €75m Arsenal transfer

Cameron Smith

• 17 Dec 2023 16:35 GMT
• 3 min read

Kai Havertz’s start to life at Arsenal wasn’t particularly impressive, but he may well have turned it around following his recent form.

The Germany international was thrusted into a new central midfield role after spending three years at Chelsea mostly playing as a central striker.

Furthermore, his place in the limelight was exaggerated online after his unconvincing MLS All-Star Skills Challenge, in which he missed all 14 of his attempted volleys. Chelsea fans added plenty of fuel to the fire too after Havertz’s underwhelming first few months at the Emirates Stadium.

Despite the fact his primary role at Arsenal’s isn’t to score goals, his tally of one goal in his first 19 games simply wasn’t a particularly acceptable return for a €75 million signing and Mikel Arteta’s judgement was certainly questioned given his desire to sign the German star.

However, Havertz has been far more impressive in recent weeks and his confidence seems to be back.

Since returning from the November international break, in which he scored for Germany from an unfamiliar left-back role, Havertz has netted four goals in seven games, and he looks far more comfortable within the Gunners’ system.

He bagged a last-minute winner against Brentford in November, a crucial strike in Arsenal’s narrow 4-3 win over Luton Town and the insurance goal in a 2-0 victory versus Brighton on Sunday.

His other goal following his return from Germany duty came in the resounding 6-0 Champions League win against RC Lens.

Purple patch Havertz?

Chelsea fans will be all too aware that Havertz typically enjoyed streaky periods of goal-scoring form during his time at Stamford Bridge, with many of his strikes coming in a short period of time.

For example, his purple patch last season came in March, when he netted in three consecutive games against Borussia Dortmund, Leicester City and Everton.

Mid-February to mid-April was Havertz’s purple patch in 2021-22, with eight goals and one assist in 11 games during that time frame.

It’s therefore understandable to expect his current goal-scoring form to drop off soon - the proof is in the pudding.

However, Havertz is now playing in a coherent, functional Arsenal team and Arteta seems to finally be getting a consistent tune out of a player who has been unable to string together several months of good performances so far in his Premier League career.