Arsenal narrowly missed ending their Premier League title drought last season, yet they made significant progress under Mikel Arteta.
Since his appointment in 2019, the Gunners have transformed from a lackluster midtable team to strong contenders for major trophies in the coming years.
The Spaniard has cleared out most of the dead wood from the squad and brought in a plethora of talented stars, such as Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard, and with the transfer window open, he looks ready to add more.
One of the latest players touted for a move to the Emirates is Sporting CP star Viktor Gyokeres, and while he’d be an exciting addition, the Gunners already have a talented forward who is worth even more than him in the squad.
Kai Havertz’s Arsenal career
The man in question is none other than German forward Kai Havertz, who was a shock £65m purchase from cross-city rivals Chelsea last summer.
It would be fair to describe the transfer as somewhat unpopular at the time, with pundits such as Gabby Agbonlahor describing the former Bayer Leverkusen man as a “joke” just a month into the season – don’t hold back, Gabby.
However, after a rough first half of the campaign in which he was mainly played as a left-eight, the 25-year-old was given a chance to start up top, and from that point on, he became one of the Gunners’ best players.
In just 18 starts as a centre-forward, the “magnificent” ace, as talent scout Jacek Kulig described him, scored 18 goals and provided seven assists, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 1.20 games.
In contrast, when he started in midfield, he only scored six goals in 32 appearances, which equates to a much poorer average of one goal involvement every 5.33 games.
He wasn’t just scoring consolation goals or the sixth in a 6-0 thumping, either. For example, he scored in the club’s 3-2 North London Derby win, grabbed the late winner against Brentford and ensured the team ended the campaign with a win thanks to a late goal against Everton.
In all, while he might not be the most aesthetically pleasing player around and have a gaff or two in him, the “versatile” Havertz, as
dubbed by data analyst Ben Mattinson, more than repaid Arteta’s faith in him last season and while the club are linked to a new number nine, the German’s value is higher.
Kai Havertz’s valuation in 2024
Gyokeres is the name most heavily linked with a move to Arsenal at the moment, and the latest is that he might be joining for a fee of around £76m, and while that’s a lot of money, it is less than the Gunners’ current star forward is valued at.
According to the CIES Football Observatory, Havertz is now worth €100m, which converts to around £85m, or about £9m more than the club look set to pay for the Swedish international.
A couple of key factors contribute to Havertz’s high valuation. The first, and perhaps most significant, is his outstanding form.
In his final 14 league appearances last season, the Aachen-born marksman scored nine goals and provided six assists, averaging a goal involvement every 0.93 games, which is undeniably impressive under the pressure of a title race.
The second reason for his increased valuation is his contract. As things stand, the former Blues forward has four years remaining on his £180k-per-week deal, which puts the North Londoners in a great position to demand what they like for him should other sides come calling.
Ultimately, while he has his detractors, it would be hard to argue that Havertz didn’t have a good campaign overall last season, and while Arsenal look ready to splash £76m on a new out-and-out striker this summer, they can rest assured that they already have a versatile attacker worth even more in the squad.
