Arteta drops main trace over Havertz function at Arsenal in first message
The Gunners finally announced the £65million arrival of the German worldwide from their London rivals on Wednesday night, with Havertz passing a medical throughout a post-season vacation in Spain and penning a long-term contract on the Emirates Stadium as he takes on the familiar No29 shirt.
He is the primary seize of a serious early summer season recruitment drive in north London, with Arsenal having also agreed a club-record £105m deal in principle with West Ham for England’s Declan Rice as they proceed negotiations with Ajax over Netherlands defender Jurrien Timber.
Havertz spent most of his combined three seasons at Chelsea following a £75m change from Bayer Leverkusen in 2020 enjoying as a central ahead, typically flattering to deceive however most memorably scoring the profitable objective within the 2021 Champions League last overcome Manchester City in Porto.
And whereas Arteta appreciates that the 24-year-old can play wherever throughout the entrance line, he extremely values his versatility amid a perception that he can function successfully in midfield.
Arsenal consider that Havertz may assist fill the void within the No8 function alongside captain Martin Odegaard subsequent season with Granit Xhaka now on his strategy to Bayer Leverkusen for £13m, with Rice shielding the again 4 if certainly he does go on to affix as anticipated.
And Arteta appeared to strongly trace at Havertz’s function throughout his welcome message to the participant during which he referred particularly to the qualities he would deliver to Arsenal’s midfield.
“Kai is a player of top quality,” the Spaniard advised Arsenal’s official web site. “He has great versatility and is an intelligent player. He will bring a huge amount of extra strength to our midfield and variety to our play.
“We welcome Kai and his family to Arsenal Football Club and we are all excited to start working with him when we start pre-season training soon.”
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Arsenal’s sporting director Edu additionally lauded Havertz’s prized versatility in his personal reward of the £65m deal.
“We’re excited to bring Kai to the club and great work by everyone to get this deal complete,” Edu mentioned. “Kai is an exciting addition to our squad, who will bring great attacking quality and versatility.
“As an experienced 24-year-old, his signing represents another important step in strengthening our young core of talented players we have at Arsenal. We look forward to working with Kai.”