A recurring theme of Arsenal’s transfer business in recent years is that they have signed players for what they might become, rather than what they currently are. In multiple cases, this has resulted in the club – especially Mikel Arteta and sporting director Edu – being criticised for targeting players who are considered by many observers to be sub-standard.
When Ben White joined from Brighton for £50 million, a large section of the Arsenal fanbase was alarmed by the size of the fee. When Martin Odegaard signed for £30 million in that same summer, there was disgust from those who wanted James Maddison instead. Such was the dissatisfaction with the £24 million move for Aaron Ramsdale, the goalkeeper received horrific online abuse and was sent threatening messages.
Even the most high-profile summer signings of last year triggered a debate. Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, bought for a combined fee of £75 million, were sneered at by some supporters and pundits because they were being let go by Manchester City.
In each of these cases, though, Arteta and Edu have been proven right. White, Odegaard, Ramsdale, Jesus and Zinchenko have all been fundamental to Arsenal’s stunning improvement over the past 12 months, and all of them have become better players within Arteta’s slick tactical system.
The hope, and indeed the expectation, at the Emirates Stadium is that another expensive addition, Kai Havertz, whose signature was confirmed on Wednesday evening, will follow in the footsteps of these other high-profile arrivals. Arsenal are not investing more than £60 million in the German because they want the same player who represented Chelsea last season, but because they believe they can make him more effective than he ever was at Stamford Bridge.
Evidently, the move for Havertz is a show of faith in the German. But it is also another demonstration of Arsenal’s faith in Arteta, and a reflection of the manager’s confidence in his own work on the training ground. When it comes to Havertz, Arteta clearly believes he is capable of succeeding where Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard could not.
Perhaps the biggest reason for this confidence is the development of Odegaard under Arteta’s guidance. Just like Odegaard, Havertz was a teenage sensation (at Bayer Leverkusen he became the youngest player to make 100 appearances in the Bundesliga). And just like Odegaard at Real Madrid, Havertz somewhat lost his way after making a big move to a European giant.
Arsenal know that, if Arteta can do with Havertz what he has done with Odegaard, helping him to fulfil his potential, then they could have another genuinely world-class attacking player on their hands. It should not be forgotten how highly-rated Havertz was as a youngster in Germany, where he became the highest-scoring teenager in a Bundesliga season.
Arsenal were well aware of Havertz’s talents even before then, with the club’s scouts in Europe spotting him before he had made his senior debut in Germany. The timings did not work out at that time, but they do now: Arsenal view him as a player capable of thriving in an attacking midfield position, and they regard his arrival (on a five-year contract) as proof of their progress in recent seasons.
Odegaard provides a promising precedent, then, and there are others in Arsenal’s history who have thrived in north London after struggling in their first big move. Patrick Vieira, for example, made only two first-team appearances for AC Milan before he changed the course of his career at Arsenal. Dennis Bergkamp had endured an unhappy spell at Inter Milan before moving to Highbury. Thierry Henry had flopped at Juventus.
In each of those cases, Arsenal saw an opportunity to buy an elite-level footballer at a point when their market value – and international reputation – was low, relative to their talent. Havertz, in many ways, is the same. He is certainly not cheap (his fee could reach around £65 million with add-ons) but three years ago he cost £72 million and his best years are ahead of him. During his time as manager, Arsene Wenger famously declared of Arsenal: “We don’t sign superstars, we make them.”
Times have changed a little since then, and no one can say that Havertz is not already a “superstar”. He has scored the winning goal in a Champions League final, after all.
But the premise of that statement remains true, in the sense that Arsenal still consider themselves to be a club where players can develop and improve, and where potential can be unlocked. Havertz is not ready-made, but Arteta believes the German can be moulded into something brighter and better than what was seen at Chelsea.
