Arsenal’s summer signing Kai Havertz had a difficult start to his career in North London, but is now thriving under the guidance of Mikel Arteta.
The German arrived from Chelsea for a huge compensation, but initially struggled in both midfield and up front, and both the midfielder and Arteta have been heavily criticised for his performances, while many have questioned the signing given his problems at Chelsea over the years.
Havertz has not scored a goal from open play in his first 12 games, and has generally turned in underwhelming performances, struggling to compensate for the defensive and attacking achievements of his predecessor Granit Xhaka.
With four goals in his last seven games in all competitions, he has started to break into the full-time side and has now been praised after Saturday’s goal against Brighton.
Michael Owen praises Kai Havertz’s progress
Former England striker Michael Owen told Premier League Productions (17/12/2023, 16.05) that Havertz has improved a lot after a terrible start at Arsenal.
“Havertz is now coming into form. It would be nice if he could continue that and grow into a more permanent fixture and a confident player,” he stated.
“I know the old saying that he is the new signing. But since he’s been at the club, he’s been very, very bad.
“But suddenly he has started to show signs of promise.”
How has Kai Havertz improved since the start of the season?
After a few games, there were big question marks hanging over Havertz’s head, as he kept putting up a string of poor performances.
His confidence has been on the floor since he arrived because of his problems at Chelsea, and this has been reflected in his play, as he has not recorded a single shot on target in the first 12 games of his Arsenal career.
Since then, he has scored all three of his goals, and his shooting range has increased dramatically. With more confidence, he is now taking more shots, having taken 12 in his first 12 games and 11 in his last five.
He has also scored more goals in recent weeks. In the last four games, he has 11 shots. At the start of the season, it took him nine games to reach that number.
His goal against Brighton was well scored, celebrated with passion, a far cry from his timid celebration after the penalty against Bournemouth, which was his first goal for the club, while he lacked confidence.
He still has some way to go to justify the high compensation spent on him, but there have been very promising signs in recent weeks and we hope he continues in this form.