Arsenal manager drops hint on Kai Havertz’s role next season

Kai Havertz could help fill the void in the No8 role alongside captain Martin Odegaard.

Arsenal announced the arrival of Kai Havertz from Chelsea on Wednesday evening. The German international passed a medical during a post-season holiday in Spain and penning a long-term contract at the Emirates.

The former Bundesliga man spent most of his mixed three seasons at Chelsea following a switch from Bayer Leverkusen in 2020. He scored the winning goal in the 2021 Champions League final over Manchester City in Porto.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta hails that the 24-year-old could help fill the void in the No8 role alongside captain Martin Odegaard next season with Granit Xhaka now on his way to Bayer Leverkusen.

“Kai is a player of top quality,” the Spaniard told Arsenal’s official website. “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.”

Arsenal’s sporting director Edu also admired Havertz’s prized versatility in his own praise of the £65m deal.

“We’re excited to bring Kai to the club and great work by everyone to get this deal complete,” Edu said. “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.”

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