Kai Havertz is a very interesting player. Many disagree on his best decision, with people suggesting he should be a striker, a false 9 or even a midfielder. Havertz himself is not bothered in the slightest. The German international is tired of answering those same questions over and over again as he is happy to be used however his manager chooses, which explains how he ended up playing Left Back for Germany a few months ago. When Arsenal spent 65 million pounds on Havertz it raised a lot of questions, and rightfully so. He had never scored more than eight league goals in a season for Chelsea and was very inconsistent for the Blues. Arsenal last season were so dominant for a long time in the Premier League. Would taking a risk by buying Kai Havertz be the right choice?

Well judging off the first few months of the season, Havertz had not yet made his mark at Arsenal and people’s pre-season predictions of him being a flop were looking bang on the money. His first goal came from the penalty spot in a 4-0 win away at Bournemouth and that felt like the players giving him the chance to finally get some confidence in an Arsenal shirt. It was in this match that he finally saw some love from the Arsenal fans when all he had experienced beforehand were groans from the fans after misses from the German. Arsenal’s away support were chanting after the match to Kai singing to the tune of ‘Wakka Wakka’ by Shakira; “tzamina mina eh eh, waka waka eh eh, 60 million down the drain, Kai Havertz scores again”

Arsenal fans belting out the Kai Havertz chant at the Vitality Stadium this afternoon. 👏 pic.twitter.com/GNEIBLfbUV

— afcstuff (@afcstuff) September 30, 2023

Havertz finally had the love and support he was craving after leaving a depressing Chelsea side where he had been targeted by fans as a waste of money by the club. Mikel Arteta himself had said in a press conference after Havertz initial struggles, “my feeling is give him love and we'll get the best out of him." After getting that love, Havertz’s performances have only improved, first by scoring a crucial late winner against Brentford in December, his first open play goal for the club. After that he managed to get an important equaliser away at Luton in a 4-3 win for the gunners. Now he has scored in his last four league games for Arsenal in a row with his last being another winner against Brentford to crucially take Arsenal to the top of the table. Kai Havertz has played in two positions across the season for the Gunners but Mikel Arteta may have finally figured out how to get the best out of him.

Playing as the striker in Arsenal’s system, Kai Havertz doesn’t stay forward, he drifts back into positions he had been in for the midfield but instead as an extra man, before making runs beyond the defence. He is a great duel winner, something Arteta showed was a non-negotiable for him in ‘All or Nothing: Arsenal’. His height may be talked about as a strength of his but his intelligence to get into scoring positions is not mentioned enough.