Arsenal have reached an agreement in principle with Chelsea to sign forward Kai Havertz. Deal for 24yo Germany international is worth around £65m. Personal terms are already in place, attacker’s medical will follow in due course @TheAthleticFC #AFC #CFC
This is the dumbest deal of all time. Imagine paying that amount for a Chelsea failure.
People are looking at this the wrong way…
Kai is currently in the same spot Xhaka was a few years ago. A player struggling to adapt to a role he isn’t suited for. Did Xhaka become a better player, or was he put in a role/position that suited his skills?
Given another role in another team, I fully expect Kai to do very well and I don’t think 65m is over priced (a high price, but not over priced). Chelsea has struggled for years with their attackers, and I think his inability to succeed at Chelsea is more to do with Chelsea being a shit show, rather than Kai being shit. Werner, Pulisic, Lukaku, Ziyech, Sterling, Auba, Felix, Fofana, Cucu, Koulibaly have all struggled immensely at Chelsea and each one of them has had recent success at other teams. They aren’t bad footballers, they are just in a really shifty situation.
Personally I think he will succeed at Arsenal. He can fit in anywhere in the attacking 3, and I think Arteta would be crazy enough to try him in the 8 role against weaker teams who park the bus.
You missed probably the two most prolific Chelsea ‘failures’. Salah and KDB.
Completely forgot about their Chelsea stints, they were that forgettable. Definitely a failure, but who knows if they would have developed the same if they stayed…
Which has now got me wondering who amongst Chelsea’s current team will leave and turn into world class players. Despite Poch’s PSG stint, he had success at Southampton and Shit, so I can see him being good for developing the younger talent Chelsea has. I just don’t think he will be given the time to fix the dumpster fire that is Chelsea.
Torres and Shevchenko
Let’s not write him off before he’s played a minute. Remember how people thought Jorginho was a shit signing? He’s yet to play in a system that plays to his strengths. Arteta has earned the benefit of the doubt
How many dud transfers have we seen over the last couple of years? None I can point out.
So, I’ll give our guys the benefit of the doubt, and hope Havertz turns into a gunners legend!
@No1 @skybreaker sambi? But he was a young gamble, always going to be a few duds when recruiting from that age range
Fair call. I’d forgotten all about him. I guess we’d be looking to sell him unless he’s had some huge jump in development.
The past couple of years is a very short time span, and conveniently cuts off the signing of Nicolas Pepe. From the past couple of years though, Vieira seems like he wasn’t as successful as you’d hope for a €35m player. But, it’s still early.