Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says he absolutely loves Kai Havertz and has urged fans to show him some love.
The German has come under a lot of criticism recently. His performances in the first three games haven’t really pleased Gunners supporters, and several pundits have had a go at him as well.
Arteta has now had his say in his press conference.
Mikel Arteta praises Arsenal star Kai Havertz
Arsenal signed Kai Havertz from Chelsea in a deal worth £65 million in June (Sky Sports).
Many eyebrows were raised when Mikel Arteta sanctioned this move, and a number of pundits had a go at the decision before the German even kicked a ball.
That criticism has continued now, and after Arsenal’s 2-2 draw against Fulham last weekend, almost everybody started pointing the finger at Havertz.
Arteta was asked about him in his press conference yesterday, and the Arsenal boss raved about how good he has been in training. He then urged the fans to show him some love.
He said, as quoted by talkSPORT: “I’ll tell you what I feel about him, that I love him and I see his qualities every day in training. His work rate is excellent, a lot of the things he does at the front of the team is so good.
“The visual one, the one with the stats, is what is missing at the moment, to put the ball in the net and to arrive on those and have a different impact on the game, but for the rest, it’s there.
“It’s difficult to ask, especially our people in our stadium and our supporters, for more, but my feeling is, give him love and we will get the best out of him.”
Arteta has been convinced from the first day that Havertz will come good for Arsenal.
The 24-year-old German is a hugely talented player, but his spell at Chelsea over the last three years was really underwhelming, even though he’s the reason why they won the Champions League.
Havertz has been very good for Arsenal off the ball so far this season, but we need to see him do much more in front of goal and around the box.
Arsenal take on Manchester United tomorrow in what is a huge game. It will be interesting to see if Havertz will keep his place in the side.
