Lets talk about the hottest topic of this transfer window. It seems like we are seriously pursuing Kai Havertz from Chelsea and are willing to spend a whooping 60m pounds and ready to put him on a 250k/week wages. This is because we have already agreed to let go Xhaka to Bayer Leverkusen for a decent sum. Granit was leaving last season to Roma but stayed after Mikel insisted and I am sure there would have been a gentlemen agreement between those two, to let him go this window if a decent offer arrives.
So what are we going to get? Kai Havertz has age on his side. He is only 24 year old, remains mostly injury free and is versatile. He played as #8 for Leverkusen and played as a false 9 and as a striker at Chelsea. Arteta loves players who can play at multiple positions. He got White, who is a CB in profile but is playing at RB for Arsenal. Tomiyasu can play at multiple positions – LB and RB, and CB. Zinchenko is a LB but drifts in the midfield and is an additional midfielder when we are having the possession. Trossard was brought as a competition to Martinelli at left wing but we have seen him leading the line up top. Jesus has been playing at CF but then he is equally suited at wings, where he played his most games at Man City.
Take away from this is, Mikel likes players who can cover multiple positions without any drop in quality. Kai Havertz fits that profile. He can play the Xhaka role more efficiently, but can provide a different profile at CF than Jesus. He can also cover for Saka at RB, if needed.
Another important quality Kai brings is his passings. Again, Mikel loves good passers of the ball, we have seen it with Odegaard, White and Ramsdale. They are good on the ball. ESR is an anomaly who likes to run forward with the ball and isn’t suited with this passing-between-the-line concept and that’s why we see less of him. Tierney is another one not suited to that philosophy. You can berate Xhaka for anything else but he always has a good, precise left foot in him. The only reason he has survived so long, even after the famous Emirates debacle and his willingness to leave. He gives what Arteta needs. Kai fits that profile, and some more. Kai might not have an end product in him, but he can time the run perfectly and overcrowd the oppositions’ box when needed. I can only speculate but that’s probably the driving factor for Mikel to offer this huge sum for Kai.
Lastly, he has talent. He was great at Leverkusen but didn’t really click at Chelsea. But then, no one has shown any promise at Chelsea recently. Mudryk was a sensation we were ready to pay 100m for, but has flopped in his first season at CFC. It’s the wrong system for most of the players and may be, just may be, we are going to fix that for Kai.
What’s the catch?
That third point. He has been at Chelsea for 3 season and hasn’t delivered under three different managers. We are taking a gamble because he suits two important factors Mikel looks in his players. On top of that, it’s a costly affair. We are paying a good money for a player who hasn’t clicked in Premier League till now, and putting him on a wage more than what Saka earns. Saka is our best player by the way.
Buying Havertz means we will have to forget about Caicedo and Chelsea will use our money to get him. I would take Caicedo over Havertz any day. They are different type of player and may be Mikel needs a CAM more than a DM and hence we are targeting Rice + Havertz.
Right, that’s all from me. I am all excited for Mikel if that’s what he need to achieve our target to win Premier League this season. If we end up short, it will be criticized. What’s your take?
Ambarish
We could have saved the 20mil we spent on Kiwior and the job would have been done. However, United was in for Timber last season but then switched to Martinez, from that I take he may be decent. Still don’t know about these sudden deals that no one sees coming, like Kiwior and they may not be researched enough.
I know nothing about him, nor Dutch football, but can I be the first on LiR to say that the Timber signing is giving me wood…. 🌳
Killroy,
I think both Kiwior and Timber can survive together. As much as I want the midfield to be fixed on priority, having an option where we don’t overly rely on White as RB or have to play Holding as the main CB, is a good thing.
Haven’t seen him much. Haven’t seen Kiwior much. But I don’t mind youngsters because they have everything to achieve. And if one fails, we can always recoup some of the investments.
KP
That’s a good one. I’m gonna steal that one 😅
Wood imagine it my splinter the fan base!
Doing my evening rounds before Junior gets home and I see it looks like the Havertz deal is very close with Arteta claiming Havertz can play 5 different positions, but not all at once, so there’s that!
For me this is the first WTF moment. No wonder Havertz has been producing shite numbers as he never knows where he should be playing. I mean he’s had Tuchel who’s a top manager and also Potter who is admired by many and then the Chav’s Mr. midfield: Fat Frank Lamps who is a completely shite manager, so I’ll just use Havertz’s stats for one and a half good managers. Yep, Havertz is still shite.
Yesterday I’m saying give A&E a chance to see what they can do and today it’s galaxy brain’s star signing drum roll……….. The mighty snowflake Havertz the taller version of Willian.
What do we think, lads?
New post!