The transfer window always brings some surprises and one of the shocking transfers this time is the move of Kai Havertz to Arsenal. Havertz moved to Arsenal for around £65m.
The 24-year-old moved to Chelsea from Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga in 2020. However, his performance at the London team did not meet everyone's expectations. Although he contributed 18 goals and 20 goals respectively in his final two seasons at Bayer Leverkusen, he scored eight goals and three assists in one of Chelsea's best seasons.
Amid criticism from fans and experts, Mikel Arteta specifically asked Arsenal to bring in the striker. The German striker ended up with a 65M transfer. In pre-season, Kai Havertz will clearly not be deployed as a striker, but as a midfielder. He will replace Granit Xhaka, who moved to Bayer Leverkusen as a left midfielder.
However, their roles will be slightly different. Xhaka is a more physical midfielder who was originally a defensive midfielder. Havertz, on the other hand, will shift from a striker role to an attacking midfielder. He needs to learn to strengthen his fitness and retreat to help him defend properly. His attacking style of play will also play a role in the third phase.
Despite some criticism from fans, Havertz has excelled in his new role. His height and body structure make it easy for him to adapt to new roles. In the two races so far, he has led Arsenal in terms of running distance (23.2km), air wins (seven) and ground wins (16).
Although the goal is yet to come, he has completed a lot of no-ball runs and the results will soon be apparent. Arteta mentioned he will be flexible this season and Kai Havertz is one of the keys to achieving that. Havertz's versatility in different positions in the attacking phase will allow him to combine effectively with most players. It will also provide opportunities to implement new strategies.
Article source: 68 Sports