After three games for Arsenal, the clouds are gathering around Kai.

new era

There was a time when the signing of a player by Arsenal for over £60m could have sent all Gunners fans into raptures and the subject of great excitement and discussion. It has been a decade since former club chief executive Ivan Gazidis announced the growing financial power of Arsenal, who have long had to shrink to self-finance the Emirates Stadium.

Next, one might expect competition for more expensive players. In September 2013, the Gunners signed Mesut Ozil for £42.4m from Real Madrid. It was a sensation. Ozil was considered a world-class star. And Arsenal immediately surpassed their previous transfer record in a big way: 15 million pounds for Andrei Arshavin seemed insignificant against the background of the club’s new opportunities. Fans felt a new era approaching.

Over the past decade, spending on transfers around the world has continued to skyrocket. And Arsenal have only paid more than eight times for Ozil since then. And four such cases have occurred in the last two years. A completely new era has not arrived.

Havertz, who joined the team this summer, was the third most valuable signing in Arsenal’s history. There is some disagreement between sources on the final price. Some say it will go up to £65m with bonuses, others up to £67.5m. But the order of numbers is clear. In any case, this is the level of spending his fans have come to expect from Arsenal. And it is still difficult for them to connect them with the reign of Stan Kroenke, who was not associated with such expenses at all until he believed in the talent of Mikel Arteta.

wary meeting

Still, Havertz’s arrival hasn’t elicited anything close to the level of hype one might have expected based on its cost. Perhaps the point is in the general context – now you won’t surprise anyone with such figures on the world market. The move was likely further sidelined by the signing of Declan Rice from West Ham this summer for £105m plus bonuses.

Rice’s signing was seen as a major coup, as Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City were all in the running for the England midfielder. In the end, only Bayern and City made concrete offers, but in this race Arsenal have surpassed them. It was he who signed the player who became the second most expensive player in the history of the Premier League.

Havertz didn’t fight like this. His time in England has left a taste of disappointment since he joined Chelsea from Bayer Leverkusen in 2020 for £71m. Kai never showed the level of play that was expected of him. Despite some glimpses.

The apotheosis of Havertz’s career can be considered the winning goal in the 2021 Champions League final. If Haaland conditionally scored such a goal, it would have been taken for granted, and such a feat by Havertz surprised many. which does not characterize the attitude towards this player as a whole in the best way. More and more people were convinced of Kai’s monstrous extravagance at other people’s doors. Especially as Chelsea’s game began to crumble under Graham Potter and Frank Lampard.

When Havertz left Chelsea, no one regretted it. On the contrary, the anxiety expressed by the fans of Stamford Bridge, in just a few matches of the new season, moved to the Emirates, where Kai, despite all the pathetic words, continued to perform in the spirit of past seasons. Arteta has already faced questions about Havertz’s ambiguous, to put it mildly, game. For example, after the match with Fulham, the Spaniard justified the player like this:

Today was tough for him at certain points. He opened up big, found zones, but the ball didn’t reach him. In many situations he should have scored many more goals this season. We lack the heads of him.

Arteta probably felt emotional for many moments. Because Havertz only had four shots on goal in three league games. None of them hit the target. At the same time, the indicator of expected goals (xG) is equal to 0.35. In this context, even Granit Xhaka, hateful to many Arsenal fans, who openly argued with them, would be perceived more acceptable for his game and dedication than him.

Stats not important

At the same time, Arsenal were three minutes away from having him Premier League get maximum points. Until Fulham draw. But in none of the three games the Gunners were convincing enough. And Havertz stood out in these matches for the worse.

Yes, it’s important to note that Kai is useful by pressing hard off the ball. But this is not enough. In the first round, Arsenal beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 with 78% possession. Havertz touched the ball 69 times. Thomas Partey (116 touches) and Rice (105) were more involved in building the game, while Bukayo Saka (84 touches) and Martin Odegaard (83) moved the ball forward more often than the others.

In the second round, Arsenal defeated Crystal Palace (1:0). Havertz touched the ball 41 times. This is the last of the Gunners’ outfield players, with the exception of Eddie Nketia, who was substituted in the 79th minute. And in the aforementioned match against Fulham, Havertz touched the ball 22 times in the first half. This is also inferior to the others. For comparison, during the same period, Rice and Sack – 50 each, Martinelli and Odegaard – 36 each, Trossard – 26.

Note the dissatisfied and disappointed sigh of the stand, when Havertz, at the beginning of the second half, instead of developing a promising attack, allowed a pass far back. He was substituted 11 minutes after the break.

Not convicted. HI

Havertz has plenty of individual talent and one can be a little optimistic about his prospects given Arteta’s ability to bring out the skills of these players. It would be absurd to think now that such a possibility does not exist. They say that at Chelsea Havertz was confused because he didn’t understand the overall goal and task of each match, as well as his functions. Arteta seems to him a more concrete and clear coach. But Havertz no longer has time to make fans fall in love with him and justify a rare investment for Arsenal. Otherwise, later on, uncertainty and partial criticism will become additional factors hindering its growth.