How Arsenal ACTUALLY spent €160m on Kai Havertz

Carlo Garganese | Editor

It is still very early days but if Kai Havertz doesn’t start improving, he risks being one of the most expensive failures in Arsenal’s history.

Mikel Arteta’s move for Havertz this past summer came as something of a surprise as the Germany international had largely struggled ever since arriving in the Premier League with Chelsea in 2020.

Although he scored the winner in the 2021 Champions League final against Manchester City, Havertz failed to live up to his billing after his £71m move from Bayer Leverkusen.

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But Arteta was adamant that he would be a success at the Emirates, and appeared to have a clear plan of playing Havertz in a hybrid midfield role.

So far, the 24 year-old has struggled badly. Tactically, he has disrupted the balance and fluency of the Arsenal side, while individually he has made little impact - particularly in an offensive way.

Having started the season as a first-team player in the vision of Arteta, Havertz is no longer considered a starter. He started from the bench in the last two matches versus Manchester City and Chelsea, even if he did contribute to the 1-0 win over the former and the late comeback draw versus the latter.

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In total this season, Havertz has managed only one goal and one assist from 13 games for his new club. That goal was a penalty in a 4-0 win over Bournemouth at a time when the game was already won at 2-0.

These numbers are well off what is expected for someone who Arsenal paid so much money for.

Havertz cost Arsenal a whopping €75 million (£65m) in transfer fees from Chelsea. That made him the third most expensive signing in the club’s history.

But what is more is that Havertz is also Arsenal’s highest-paid player. He earns an annual salary of €17m per season (£14.5m), more than proven Premier League stars such as Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and William Saliba.

With a contract that runs until 2028, Havertz is due to earn €85m in wages during his five years at the club.

Added together, Arsenal have invested an incredible €160m in Havertz.

When you invest such a large sum of money in a footballer, you expect great things.

So far, Havertz has not even been producing adequate performances, let alone good or great performances.

We are still at the end of October, so there is plenty of time for Havertz to find his feet. He is settling into a new club, a new style of football and he will certainly get plenty of chances with Arsenal playing in the Champions League and at home.

But the pressure is certainly on Havertz. Arsenal have invested a fortune in him and he needs to start repaying them fast.