After Kai Havertz moved to Arsenal for £65 million, together with the previous transfer income of Matteo Kovacic, Chelsea's projected book loss in 2022/23 fell to around £35 million, and the £95 million gap previously reported by Athletic has been filled. Considering that the "cut-off" until June 30 is mainly to prepare in advance for UEFA's FFPs when returning to European racing, UEFA FFPs are calculated by taking the average of the last three financial years. With two highly paid players left Kante and Kalidu Koulibaly, plus those who went to Saudi Arabia, the financial situation for 2023/24 will theoretically not be too bad (unless Todd Poli runs to buy another 40 men).
Therefore, the side effect of Kai Havertz's transfer is that the team no longer has to "rush" to sell Mason Mount, at least there is no pressure to do it before June 30. Of course, with United's recent incompetence in transfer and contract matters, they probably won't be able to settle everything before June 30. Let's put out the backyard fire caused by the DDG incident...
Clever and versatile, these two words are probably the most appropriate words to describe Kay Havertz's annotations. This is not to say that he is a "miscellaneous" panacea, but that his skillset is used in most positions up front. Joining Chelsea, who have been "the best young talent in the Bundesliga" and "revenge consumption" after the transfer ban, Kai Havertz's greatest strength is his off-ball running, and only Son Heung-min (1093) has made more off-ball runs in the Premier League this season than Kay Havertz (1070).
From the winning goal against Manchester City in the Champions League to the pick pass from Enzo Fernandez against Newcastle, Kai Havertz relied on a pre-positioned move to receive the pass "to the foot". Kai Havertz also relied on timing to make the moment he received the pass a goalscoring opportunity, without having to find another gap in the opponent's defense. Although Kay Havertz "looks" languid, the numbers of running off the ball prove that he is anything but lazy. Running off the ball can contribute to both the offensive and defensive ends of the spectrum, as well as creating space for teammates and assisting in transitions.
But while his skillset are used in most positions up front, the best fit for him to play to his strengths is ultimately the area between the line between midfield and the penalty area. After all, the farther away from the opponent's penalty area, the more gaps can be received "to the foot wave". Looking at Kay Havertz's record at Bayer Leverkusen, more than half of his playing time hovers between the front and midfield, and only 17% of his time as a striker in the opponent's penalty area, which is a stark contrast to the 63% of his time at Chelsea.
As former boss Thomas Tuchel said, Kai Havertz is a mix of No.9 and No.10, he is used to moving high, has enough ball intelligence to find the most suitable attacking position, and the timing and heading ability are also good, so it is not that he cannot be used as a No. 9. However, Kay Havertz cannot be the only attacking fulcrum in the opponent's penalty area, and it is ideal to have other teammates in front of him to help him open the way, and secondly, to have other teammates share the attention of the opposing defender. Although his partner with Timo Werner is often ridiculed as a "fly-only-not bomb-blowing" German reconnaissance aircraft, both of them also happen to be more suitable for the type of orthodox center in front of them, but at least under the mutual pull and echo of the two, Kai Havertz can play his own technical characteristics. Kay Havertz's better games this season have usually been with Sterling or Felix in attacking combinations.
Unfortunately, Chelsea's approach to forming an army in recent years has been unbalanced. Take the "retaliatory consumption" spearheaded by Marina as an example, buying Timo Werner, Kay Havertz and Hakim Ziyesh in one go, but forgetting to form the package that these offensive players need, so that the offensive combination has never been formed. After the acquisition of Romelu Lukaku a year later, he finally had a role closer to the traditional centre-forward, but Thomas Tuchel's refusal to adjust his tactics to help Lukaku integrate into the whole was also a no-brainer. This has caused an embarrassing situation where the lineup is expensive but still needs to be strengthened.
With Thomas Tuchel losing faith in Romelu Lukaku and Timo Timo Werner, leaving the squad this season and Armando Broja out of the squad for a long time, Kai Havertz has been the best and only centre-forward candidate in the squad for a long time. The media generally refer to players who debut and play as strikers in informal centers as False 9, but Kay Havertz most of the time is not "pseudo" in his division of labor like Roberto Firmino, but "pseudo" in his player traits. Roberto Firmino is at the starting point of No. 9 as No. 10, and the No.9 job of storming the box is divided between Mane and Salah; Kai Havertz stood in the No. 9 position with the characteristics of a No. 10 player, and was also doing the No. 9 job. So Kay Havertz in recent years is not a false 9, but a No. 10 player who was pulled to guest play the No. 9 position. Originally a substitute, it is understandable that he did not play well in the cameo position.
So, when Kay Havertz joins Arsenal, which position is best suited to play? In fact, this is not a mystery, many Arsenal reporters have long let the wind go, Arteta expects Kai Havertz to replace Granit Xhaka on the left No. 8.
Similar to Gundogan, who left Mateo Kovacic, Kai Havertz and Granit Xhaka have different technical characteristics but generally have the same range of movement, and there is no need to worry about the attacking presence in the same area on the pitch. Granit Xhaka's season was the most attacking freedom and the least defensive since Arsenal. With Thomas Palte/Jorginho's bottom behind him and Zinchenko's inner cut, Granit Xhaka can go up unbridled, and his closer box-to-box style of play has also bought him nine goals and seven assists in all competitions. Although Kay Havertz is an attacking player, his frontal defensive ability is not as good as that of Granit Xhaka from midfield, but considering that Granit Xhaka has not paid much attention to defense this season, changing to Kai Havertz's offensive and defensive balance should not have much impact.
Kai Havertz's decision-making, whether it's running and reading the game, or the meticulous footwork that can be seen from his stoppage shooting, from ball intelligence to technique, should be enough to meet Arteta's tactical needs. At most, replacing Granit Xhaka with Kai Kai Havertz may make the balance more offensive and defensive, but it will not be a problem for Arsenal fans who have been attacking since Wenger's days. Taking a step back, he can also switch or rotate with Jesus and fellow left-footed Bukaio Saka if necessary, which also indirectly gives Arteta more freedom when deploying troops.
Based on Kay Havertz's performance at Chelsea in recent years, £65 million is a bit too expensive. But given that Kay Havertz is partly dragged down by Chelsea's birth defects at all levels, he is only 24 years old, and how well he fits Arteta's tactics on the deck, £65 million is not too much at current market prices. Anyway, the transfer fee originally involved a large basket of factors in addition to the player's current ability, and Arsenal did not lose money because of this (there was still room to buy Declan Rice for £105M), and this transfer was not too much of a loss for Arsenal. It is obvious that Kay Havertz is a coach's choice rather than a typical fan choice, but looking at Arteta's accumulated popularity after two seasons, even if you are not optimistic about Kay Havertz, it should not be difficult to say "In Arteta we trust", right?