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Arsenal to reap the rewards once again with Havertz signing

This season is going to be very interesting for Arsenal. Although they fell late on to Manchester City in the Premier League title race, Mikel Arteta has changed the perception of the club in a year. Now they must be taken seriously; after so many false dawns and consistently struggling with the same issues, progress is now obvious and undeniable. But that brings different pressure in itself.

Some people may say that their failure to win the title last year, having led the race for so long, is only an extension of their recent history; but there are many ways in which it felt different. Chiefly among those is the fact that there were the fact that they showed mettle at times when it mattered, having come from nowhere to launch their bid for a title out of nowhere. A Champions League push was expected, but the way they came through to beat Bournemouth at home in the last minute, as well as scoring twice in stoppage time to win away at Aston Villa showed signs of the mettle needed to win a title.

When push came to shove and Manchester City turned the heat up, they fell away. But they are a young team and gaining that experience will only improve their chances going forward. But now they are a threat; nobody is assuming anything anymore. City will be favourites again next season, Liverpool will come back stronger, as will Chelsea, but Arsenal will be in the conversation. They have to be, and that brings a different pressure.

But Arteta is ready for that, and the evidence is there in his recruitment. Signing Declan Rice from West Ham, as it looks like they may very well do, is a monumental statement. Not only does a deal worth £105m show their financial muscle and how clever their signings have been under Arteta in the main, but the fact they have beaten competition from City, and view him as a crucial piece in the puzzle in terms of catching them, says quite a lot. It is a long time since Arsenal have been able to attract one of the most sought after players in Europe.

But the Gunners still need to shrewd in the market. Last summer, a crucial part of their improvement came when they signed Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from City. Not only were they huge upgrades on existing options at left back and up front. Jesus felt like a game-changing arrival; he gave them a focal point and scored 11 goals in 26 league games. Had he not missed three months with an injury picked up at the World Cup, how impact he could have been even greater.

Some might say that signing players Manchester City don’t want will not bridge the  gap. But it is a lot more nuanced than that. In both cases, the players needed to play regularly in order to fulfill their potential, and City’s squad is saturated with quality. Erring Haaland’s arrival meant Jesus had the best striker in the world as competition; he was always going to need to leave, and whoever signed him would get an elite striker. As for Zinchenko, the irony is that now, with Nathan Ake playing at left back under Pep Guardiola and Joao Cancelo leaving, he may have been a regular in the side. His ability to come inside and play as an inverted fullback has taken Arsenal to a new level tactically.

That’s why the move for Chelsea’s Kai Havertz makes sense, despite similar murmurings. How is he worth £65m if Chelsea, a team that finished in the bottom half last season, can’t find a place for him? Context is key; firstly, the Blues enduring such a difficult season had nothing to do with their squad’s quality but rather a lack of overarching direction. Havertz was expected to be the main goal threat, but doesn’t thrive with that pressure and will not be given it at Arsenal.

While he can play as a ‘false’ nine, he is better at number 10, and will be given similar freedom to exploit space by Arteta’s midfield set up. Criticism over his lack of goals needs context; Chelsea needed more from their wingers for that system to work. Like Jesus and Zinchenko, he brings a mentality that has previously been lacking at Arsenal, having won the Champions League final in 2021.

At Bayer Leverkusen, Havertz was one of the best young players in Europe. His career has stalled at Chelsea but he’s still had his moments. He is a player who represents a real opportunity, in need of something to spark him to get back to his best. Arsenal have to be credited with seeing that, as they have with others, and they will reap the rewards, too.