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Arsenal signed Kai Havertz from Chelsea this summer for a fee of £65million, however the German has failed to hit the ground running since making the move to North London. Charles Watts has come to the defence of the 24-year-old as he believes some of the comparisons made with Havertz are unfair.
Kai Havertz’ best form of his career so far was at Bayer Leverkusen in Germany before making the switch to England and joining Chelsea in 2020. The German international scored 17 goals and 12 goals respectively in his final two seasons in the Bundesliga before moving to Stamford Bridge where he failed to reach over eight league goals before making the move to Arsenal in the summer.
Mikel Arteta has so far used Kai Havertz in a midfield role, making late runs into the box however it appears it’s going to take time for the German to get used to the position after playing the last three years as the main striker for Chelsea.
The 24-year-old has come under early criticism during his Arsenal career so far as his performances are yet to warrant the £65million price tag the Gunners paid for him in the summer. Charles Watts thinks some of the comments made about Kai Havertz aren’t true and in particular the ones comparing him to the flop transfer of Nicolas Pepe.
READ MORE: Former Arsenal player says it was easy to turn down Tottenham and Chelsea.
Charles Watts on Kai Havertz: “There have been lots and lots of comments and I have been pretty amazed how every comment about Nicolas Pepe, somehow, they are managing to get Kai Havertz into it.
“I don’t get the Kai Havertz thing. It’s like too much. Everything seems to get turned around to Kai Havertz. I don’t understand how Nicolas Pepe’s situation can be turned around to Kai Havertz. I don’t get it.
“Yes, Kai Havertz isn’t doing great. He hasn’t hit the ground running yet. It’s annoying. We want him to do better. We hope he does better. Some are saying why is Mikel giving Kai Havertz so many chances, he didn’t give Nicolas Pepe.
“Havertz has played four games. Pepe played a season and a half under Arteta. It’s not like he didn’t get a chance. He played plenty. I don’t get that comparison.”
Nicolas Pepe featured regularly for Arsenal when Mikel Arteta first came to the club. He even started in the FA Cup final in the Spaniard’s first season in charge so we have to agree with Charles Watts here. Nicolas Pepe just didn’t fit the system which is no fault of his own, but the Arsenal manager is convinced Kai Havertz will fit in soon enough.
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