Arsenal are worse than last season despite €230m spending spree

Tom Weber

• 12 Dec 2023 08:18 CST
• 3 min read

Arsenal made a grave mistake by not adequately replacing Granit Xhaka, according to Jamie Redknapp.

The Gunners had a big summer as north of €230 million was spent on incomings, with record signing Declan Rice and Kai Havertz strengthening the midfield. While Rice has been spectacular so far, Havertz has only recently come into his own after a deluge of criticism earlier in the season.

Neither Havertz nor Rice is a like-for-like replacement for Granit Xhaka, who headed back to the Bundesliga because his German wife wanted to return home to the Rhineland. The Swiss joined Bayer Leverkusen and has formed arguably the division's best midfield partnership with World Cup winner Exequiel Palacios.

While Leverkusen are flying high thanks to the stability Xhaka offers defensively and the incredible vision and awareness he boasts in possession, Arsenal have struggled to recapture their swashbuckling football of last season.

Though the Gunners are only a point off top spot in the Premier League, they are, statistically, worse off than last season, having just been beaten by Aston Villa, and Jamie Redknapp believes that this is due to Xhaka's departure.

Arsenal miss Xhaka

Speaking on Sky Sports, Redknapp said: “I think if you were to assess Arsenal this season, the facts are there: they are seven points down on where they were last year and seven goals less."

“The performances haven’t been quite as fluid. There was so much to enjoy. The back four hasn’t changed but in midfield with Havertz, is he an upgrade on Xhaka? Right now I would say no. I think [they miss Xhaka]. He had that quality, he gave you that bit of positional sense."

“He’d get it onto his left foot, he’d create balls into [Gabriel] Jesus and he just gave you that bit of guile which is something they’re not possessing. Havertz has had a good little run these last few weeks, but they’ve not quite got that balance they had last year where they would dominate teams for 90 minutes.”