Arsenal one step away from unleashing Kai Havertz with dream transfer

Of the 12 games Kai Havertz started as a striker last season for Arsenal in the Premier League in the run-in, Mikel Arteta’s side were victorious in all-but-one of them. That was a 0-0 draw away to Manchester City, and a result that many at the time accepted as being respectable even if he didn’t turn the title race.

It’s notable that when he returned to a deeper role three matches later, Aston Villa went to the Emirates Stadium and disrupted matters, winning 2-0 and ultimately landing a fatal blow, as things turned out. Although Arsenal only failed to win three of the first 12 he played in as a midfielder, there was a stark difference.

The Gunners scored 26 in the initial 12 with Havertz as one of the attacking No.8s, and they managed 29 in the last dozen. The difference was marginal but his goal tally was markedly better. One penalty and a single assist from midfield to start the campaign compared to eight goals with six assists.

Havertz had been unlocked, it was suggested. Arteta had done it again. £60million down the drain, the fans sang ironically. Finally, after three years of trying at Chelsea, someone had found the key to the enigma.

The thing is, Havertz isn’t doing much different at Arsenal to what he was at Stamford Bridge. He scored more goals and did it with extra assists, but the underlying numbers aren’t massively deviating.

His xG was slightly higher in 2023/24 than in 2022/23, but instead of underperforming by 4.6, he proved more clinical. His passes to teammates were converted, and ultimately he produced. Arteta still ended up with Havertz being deployed as a striker though, and even when Gabriel Jesus returned there was no place in the side for him regularly.

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When it mattered, Havertz was the chosen No.9. This is a movement away from what he was signed for. Arsenal planned for the German to be a box-crashing, ghostly midfielder, creating space and exploiting his height. Chelsea wished to do the same.

Is Havertz being unleashed here, or is he just in a better team? His output is better, but what he’s being asked to do is not hugely different to the role three Chelsea managers eventually picked for him. Lead the line, Kai, and offer some assistance whilst doing so.

This begs the question, why are Arsenal so keen to add an out-and-out centre forward to their ranks? It appears that the Havertz experiment still has another stage, and it involves going backwards.

If a new striker does join then it is likely – especially given the names and prices being suggested – that they will be starting. Havertz, as one of the success stories for Arsenal in 2024, is also expected to have a big part to play. Arteta is not going to start operating with two central options like this, so Havertz will be shifted.

This makes sense. It does raise questions over the alchemy of the team, and Havertz’s struggles to master the intensity and demands of being an effective No.8 don’t make this easy to solve, but in theory Arsenal could have another mainstream attacker in the side without compromising their standout stars.

Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and presumably Gabriel Martinelli, are not going to be missing out that often. What Arteta will need, then, with Havertz, is to get him into flowing from deep like Odegaard himself works.

The Arsenal captain is one part of a deadly triangle on the right side that offers balance, creativity, and pure danger to opposition teams. Along with Saka and Ben White in his repurposed full-back role, the trio dominate proceedings.

More often than not Saka is doubled up on, but that can leave room for Odegaard, and he doesn’t need much of it to make an impact. Be it rehearsed and choreographed passing patterns, or moments of fluid joy from the Saka or Odegaard, mainly, Arsenal patrol and penetrate on this flank.

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The same cannot be said of the opposite side though. When Havertz wasn’t in midfield it was either left for Oleksandr Zinchenko to invert – a role he struggled to fill in the same way he did in 2022/23 – or even to Declan Rice should Jorginho have been selected to give more cover.

At left-back, there was often confusion and a lack of chemistry between Zinchenko, or the array of players Arteta selected on that side. Jakub Kiwior filled in nobly but is a centre-back by trade, Takehiro Tomiyasu was solid when fit but playing on the opposite flank to his natural spot didn’t help form attacks. Martinelli didn’t find the same levels he had reached previously either.

One side was slick and fluid, the other clunky and disjointed. The change that helped most was when Havertz moved and an extra midfielder came into the deeper spot. Is that an option for Arteta again? It waits to be seen. But perhaps it is no surprise that attention is being put on Riccardo Calafiori.

The Italian can take steps forward into midfield when in possession and plays both left and centre-back roles with ease at Bologna and for his country. Like White, he played mainly in the heart of defence initially but is able to move wide when needed. It is simple to think that Arteta may well see Calafiori playing a similar role on the opposite flank.

If that can be used to create a triangle with Havertz on the left then Arsenal could find themselves in business. Although Havertz has taken steps to producing more than in previous years, the true extent to how much he may well be unlocked could yet be to come.

At £45million, Calafiori’s price and age, 22, even match up to White when he moved. It’s for that reason that Arsenal may well find symmetry and success with Havertz coming back into an area that he has largely failed to operate well in.