There have been more questions than appreciation on Arsenal’s pursuit of Kai Havertz. The question isn’t about the Germans’ capabilities as much as it is about the Gunners’ needs. Do they really have to spend around £65 million?
For starters, here’s a stat to stake my claim. The Gunners scored a whopping 88 goals last season, only 6 lesser than Guardiola & co. For a team to score over 2 goals on average, there doesn’t seem to be a need to go for one more forward especially when they have important slots to fill.
Arsenal may have qualified for the Champions League but they still have budget constraints which will only intensify if they are to spend over £100 million for West Ham’s captain Declan Rice. Yes, they are going to earn a few via sales of Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey, and a few others but that won’t be enough.
Even if we are to keep financial constraints aside, we have plenty points to avoid Kai Havertz.
Look for a full-back or centre-back
Arsenal were the front runners last season for almost over 30 games until they lost their wall in Saliba and Tomiyasu. Two magnificently performing defenders were injured in the same game against Sporting CP and there started the decline of THE GOONERS.
Arsenal’s lack of depth in the defence was brutally criticised as it was evidently visible to the naked eyes of every individual who understands football. The structure of their defence was demolished and Rob Holding was shown his place in the 4-1 defeat against Manchester City. Kiwior did perform above par but not as excellently as Saliba.
Mikel Arteta should be aware of the importance of having squad depth and right now should only focus on spending huge chunk on a world-class defender. They can go behind Manchester City’s Laporte as he looks for game time and an exit from the Blues of Manchester or can even look for his teammate Joao Cancelo who can be a great full-back partner to his former team mater Zinchenko.
Find a Bukayo Saka understudy
Talking about the squad depth, let’s not forget the fatigue that was caused to Bukayo Saka in the last stages of the Premier League.
Literally, the young lad had played every single minute for Arsenal and in his recent performance for England he could be seen suffering although the champion yet was successful in getting a hat-trick.
Arsenal should be looking to find a like-to-like winger who can play as an understudy to Bukayo Saka and also develop as a future candidate. Mousa Diaby of Bayer Leverkusen is out open in the market and should not be missed by Arsenal. More than just an understudy, Diaby has over 51 goal contributions for his club in the last two season and has the aptitude to play in London.
Kai Havertz is atrocious upfront
Now let’s focus a little on Kai Havertz and his weakness. Yes, the guy is a big game player which he did prove with his winner against Manchester City in the Champions League final for Chelsea but that has been his only contribution over his last two years for the Blues.
Havertz’s stats do a lot of talking here. The forward only had a meagre 9.86% shot conversion rate and his big chance conversion was also only 22% which when compared to Arsenal’s forward is ridiculously poor. Gabriel Jesus had a 62.5% conversion and the world-class Saka had a colossal 70%.
Gunners already have seasoned campaigners in Gabriel Jesus, Martinelli, Odegaard, and obviously Bukayo Saka giving Arteta a clear excuse of not chasing Havertz. The German won’t even be a guaranteed starter for Arsenal and why would one spend over £60 million on a guy to warm the bench?
