Arsenal will wrap up the signing of Kai Havertz in the coming week after agreeing a £65 million deal with Chelsea.
According to David Ornstein, the Gunners will pay a guaranteed £62 million in three instalments with an additional £3 million on offer depending on club and player achievements over the length of his five-year contract.
The German still needs to undergo his medical and have his photos papped ahead of an official announcement but it’s edging closer.
Havertz is one of a number of players set to leave Chelsea before 30 June as new owner Todd Boehly looks to ensure his side doesn’t fall foul of FFP regulations.
🚨 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 https://t.co/B24O9cCnhF
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) June 21, 2023
As many as five players – Edouard Mendy, N’Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly, Hakim Ziyech and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – could end up in Saudi Arabia while Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount are close to joining Manchester City and Manchester United respectively.
The Blues’ use of the Saudi Pro League as a dumping ground has raised collective eyebrows given the deals are being funded by the Middle East nation’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) which in turn has links to American hedge fund Clearlake Capital who were part of the consortium that purchased Chelsea from Roman Abramovich last year.
Mikel Arteta really wants Kai Havertz at Arsenal. The versatile attacker hasn’t set the world alight at Chelsea, so why might it work in North London?
🗣 @jj_bull explains
Try The Athletic for FREE for 30 days: https://t.co/A0OgaXldF7 pic.twitter.com/SgsHAhndYR
— Tifo Football (@TifoFootball_) June 20, 2023
Chelsea may not be the only one to benefit from the Saudis splashing the cash. Arsenal are open to offloading Thomas Partey and three Saudi clubs are said to be keen to take him off our hands. A fee in the region of £40 million would see Edu recoup most of the buyout clause paid to Atletico Madrid three years ago.
It’s believed a departure for Partey, in addition to Granit Xhaka’s on-ice move to Bayer Leverkusen, will see Mikel Arteta target two midfielders.
Two offers for West Ham captain Declan Rice have already been rejected while talks with Southampton’s teenage Romeo Lavia are also being held.
Chelsea have us by the balls. A huge fee up front with only a small amount in add-ons. Makes zero sense for us financially and complete sense for Chelsea.
Edu Edu Edu…
That’s before we actually look at the merits of signing Havertz. He’s a good player, but seems a ridiculous misuse of funds in a critical window, personally
What makes you think he’s a good player? Not the last 3 years…
Even with all the qualities being given to Havertz, why did we let go Laca then?
You know what, you’re right. Let’s get rid of Edu and Mikel and bring in Jack from the Arseblog comments – he’s the expert.
Didn’t Arteta bring in Willlian and Runnarson? Plus Sambi, Tavarez and David Luiz and Ceballos who were so-so? Why are they immune to mistakes?
Without suggesting this is a great buy because I’m not yet sure it is, given Havertz’s obvious talent, the players you have mentioned were bough when we were out of the Champions League and looking for potential and squad filler. Our hand was weak. None of them particularly broke the bank. Of all of them the only qualified disaster was Willian. Runarsson was brought in as a second choice keeper on the recommendation of the goalkeeping coach so that’s on him, not Arteta. David Luiz, despite his obvious flaws, was by far our best defender and the starting point of… Read more »
They aren’t immune from mistakes like every other club and players and management. This is why it is always best to fire them before they make more mistakes! This way, a club can spend millions more on management turnover than players which is exactly what every other club who loses does. I say before we fire him we have a mass rally, drag his effigy through London and the burn it for the world to see. Send a clear message…you play or work at Arsenal…and lose…you die!
Yeah, also Ramsdale, White, Tomiyasu, Odegaard, Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus, and Trossard.
:🥳😁😁😁
🍺 🍺 🍺 🍺 🍺 👍 😂
Interesting that you have insight into the deal. I’ve seen it mentioned as being structured- that means it’s not all upfront
Interesting reading for all…
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12906148/kai-havertz-to-arsenal-why-chelsea-are-willing-to-let-him-go-and-why-he-is-attractive-to-the-gunners
This is a great read…. Hmmm almost gets my knickers wet. I mean, if I had knickers 😅
There’s plenty to feel optimistic about in that article. Cheers.
I think that article makes it pretty clear why Arteta wants him. Not sure it will be a success, but a tall, pacey, somewhat two-footed 8 or false 9 who makes lots of intelligent runs and presses fiercely–sounds a lot better than the guy who played for Chelsea this season.
Arteta drove the deal apparently.
….he is the manager
Or perhaps it’s a highly intelligent use of funds for a player who adds a huge amount to our squad and fits in perfectly with the manager’s tactical vision?
If this is to replace Xhaka then it is a gamble on the defensive side.
Why?
His pressing and interceptions are some of the strongest parts of his game. Whilst tackling has not only become almost obsolete in the modern game, Xhaka was also shit at it
We all know the famous Paolo Maldini line about how when he had to make a tackle, it meant he had already made a mistake. You are absolutely right–that’s not how defense is played today, even at centre-half. Xhaka’s single biggest flaw as a player was his lack of pace; almost every bad tackle, every yellow card he received, was trying to make up for having been bypassed. Moving him forward this year and Partey’s (usual) brilliance made that far less important. And Havetz, whatever else his flaws, has both plenty of pace and a consistent commitment to pressing off… Read more »
That’s it, no purchases unless we are 100% certain, no more gambles! Oh, and above all…you must tell us who made the actual decision so we can hang and burn the right person. If management collaborates on these decisions that means we have to hang all of them, that is too much rope!
This is my least exciting signing since Jimmy Carter off Liverpool.
Please, please Kai, prove me wrong!!
I understand but all your hopes and excitement this summer are invested in us signing the west ham captain with one year left on his contract for over 100M and his greatest skillset is a short burst/ sprint forward from his opponents before passing it backwards but Mikel signing an attacking player he rates for half that fee underwhelms you because that’s the general opinion that everyone currently at Chelsea is bad and the West Ham number 6 is the best thing since sliced bread?
Anyone here had the same feeling about the Ramsdale signing 2 seasons back? I do, vividly!
Not up front, over 3 installments. Like how the article says
I just kai-nda hope it all works out for the best.
Don’t mind the signing, but seems like we’re always overpaying and under selling.
We’ve been underselling for a while. That said I can’t disagree with the fee on this one – imo he’s Germany’s best player, been played out of position for all last year and is 23. What’s the absolute worst that happens, we sell him at 25 for £40m back to the Bundesliga? The best is we’ve got an established young premier league player with tons of potential. I love it.
Absolutely
Ofc you didn’t know about Musiala
It’s a lot of £’s but clearly Arteta has a plan.
Top scorer in a shambles of Chelsea a squad last season. Prem experience and a winner (Champions league). At 6’3” gives an option in attack that we currently lack from our forwards.
Really talented player, perhaps likes his hair and looking at himself in the mirror more than footie. The key will be Mikel keeping him away from mirrors and hair gel. If he can, then this could be a cracking signing. I’m gonna trust Mikel will convert Kai to a lego hair guy and he’ll never have to worry about his hair again as it will be set solid for life.
Totally agree, when Chelsea signed him for £71M he was considered one the best players in Europe. Then he went to Chelsea and they play with no striker and have had a chain of Managers…. Personally I trust Arteta to get the best from him
Great signing
Huh? We sell an underperforming player back to a league that has 2, maybe 3 teams that can afford your 40 million? That is not going to happen.
To be clear that isn’t the plan. But it’s a feasible insurance policy. The guy is Germany’s best player that isn’t in dispute, yes, only a few clubs could afford him (though I’d agree 3 with Leipzig). But let’s compare vs a lot of our other spends. Sambi, Pepe, Taveres. I’ve probs missed multiple. But you’re taking about unproven players who are not cheap. I don’t see the risk here as much as I know people hate ex-Chelsea.
@Kris…with respect, but were you getting this “Germany’s best player that isn’t in dispute” from?! Seriously dude, he’s far from germanys best player and has been absolute dog shit for Chelsea for three fkn years and here we are bailing them out yet again…65mil is a lot of money and we have to spend it on this guy?! Uhm, no.
I feel like this transfer is a little bit galaxy brain. It’s really thinking outside the box from arteta so he should have been rewarded with that by not paying loads. As it is, Havertz is both expensive and an unknown commodity.
I do really hope Arteta is right because I think this is the biggest gamble he’s taken in the market to date. So he really needs to stick the landing.
The truth is none of us really know. All we can do is trust.
Isn’t a player who has played 91 times in the P/L over the last 3 seasons and has 37 caps for Germany in the last 5 years, the very definition of a known commodity?
It’s like Rice. He ticks a lot of boxes except one for many on here.
Experienced International ? ✅
Experienced Premier League player? ✅
Links up well with Saka; could link up well with the rest of our lads? ✅
Costs Arsenal (not me) £100m instead of costing Arsenal (not me) £90m? ❌
Still, keep talking about flowers, capitalism, communism and yoga…….😂
@Anders, yeah you’re right…known commodity for being fkn shit!
Compared to the other players we’re being linked with and the fees quoted, this one definitely feels like Arteta’s boldest move so far, and maybe not just of this summer. I have a hunch he might not see it as nearly as big a gamble as many of us do though. I know he keeps praising versatility, but he also used to speak a lot about our need for “specificity” in each position. Excited to see what he has in mind, because it’s most certainly clearer in his mind than it is in ours.
For me it’s much more mental with Havertz. He has all the talent, size, pace, technical ability to be absolutely world class.
But…”can he do it on a rainy Tuesday night in Stoke”…
If he’s up for it, buys in fully and plays engaged, then I think this will be a grand signing and he’ll be a huge player for us. Does he want it enough?
But we don’t really play Stoke so he should be fine.
I agree that all we can do is trust, I think he’s earned that. I don’t think that this is out of the box thinking though. He just had a different box
Arteta knows. That’s good enough for me. Lots of people lost their minds over White and Ramsdale and they turned out great despite the narratives swirling at the time. Havertz not the player I would have gone after, but I’m not Arteta.
I agree that the price is steep, but 1.) its not our money so whocare, and 2.) its structured over a three year period so not a huge outlay on someone with resale value as he’s not 31.
also, this is the same type of money we were looking to spend on raphinha last summer.
Oh it is our money – we’re Arsenal fans; therefore it’s our money…… 🙄
All the fun of the fair down on the funny farm…..
I don’t think we always overpay.
45 m for Jesus is daylight robbery. The bloke was transcendent before his injury (and very good after he came back)
And Ødegård? He is probably worth 3 times as much today as what we bought him for.
Yeah, but we’re Arsenal; we mustn’t spend big – The Holy Self Sustaining Model Be Praised Amen.
Lokonga, Fabio Viera,Pepe, Willian……
Martinelli, Big Gabby, Tommi, Zinchenko, KT, Saliba at under 30m was a steal & even Ramsdale looks like a bargain now. & obvs the boys from the academy.
I agree, don’t think you can say we overpayed for the majority of our squad.
I am happy to pay that for a fatster, more technical and mobile Giroud.. Only turned 24 like a week ago..
As such, he is now 24 years old – having completed two dozen cycles of what is known as an Earth calendar year (which in itself is made up of a dozen monthies), and, like a week old.
He’ll put up better numbers than Xhaka in the L8. Also, link up might just be better, being an attacking player. Definitely not a striker, and I don’t know why that persisted, but, more strings and insight.
To be honest, wouldn’t pay that much for a fatster
I don’t know, I have a feeling he’s going to be shit hot and the fee is going to end up looking cheap. The club obviously seem to think so or they wouldn’t be spending so much money on him when he has been underperforming for 3 years.
I guess there is always an element of risk with these things.
overpaying? not sure, the market has gone completely nuts recently and Chelsea paid more than that three years ago. Which means they actually paid a lot more due to fee inflation.
I never watch Chelsea so I had no idea what kind of player he was. But he seems to be extremely gifted and at 24 he’s just coming into his prime.
Bear in mind he played a lot of football at Chelsea during covid, their Boehly pantomime, and Lampard.
You only have to look at this article. Looking for £40m for Partey.
Neves just went for £47m. I don’t care how young he is. Partey could play until he’s 35 in the poxy Saudi league and he’s way better than Neves, FFS!
Will you hold the same opinion when we actually spend 100M on the west ham number six with one year left on his contract or that will be value 🤔
I have to agree. 55m for Mount, 47m for Ruben Neves, 40m for James Maddison all look like better value than we’re getting.
Chelsea get an A for selling Kia to us for 65. I’ll give Arsenal their grade at the end of the semester. Hoping for the best!
Shit! That’s a heck of a typo. I thought for a second that you were suggesting that Kia was his agent.
kia won’t be doing any deals this week, he’s at royal ascot. He just had the 1st winner at 150/1.
Chelsea are selling for less than they bought him, and just when he’s about to go into his peak. This is the club that couldn’t wait for De Bruyne and Salah to develop and then watched them win titles for other clubs.
True. And Lukaku
Chelsea paid almost 100mil for him at 21.
Chelsea are wankers.
You’re being polite mate
They’re cunts too.
What do you give west ham for selling us their number six with one year left on his contract for over 100M? And will you wait for end of semester to grade Arsenal or the general opinion has it as the holy grail signing?
Here we go!!
Crickey.
Blimey.
Gordon Bennett
Shiver me timbers.
Sorry, wrong article
Interesting article on Sky about him with some good stats- hadn’t realised how much of a runner and how strong in the air he is. I’m intrigued, mostly because I don’t think anyone sees him as a striker or that we’d spend £65m on a squad player. So to me it’s either: – A starter at number 8 (as well as cover for Ø and Saka) – Mikel is thinking about a different formation- at least some of the time. I’ve always thought Havertz would be great playing alongside a striker in the ‘Bergkamp role’. Could we go two up… Read more »
Agreed! There were similar concerns about our purchases last season because the new players’ presumed roles were viewed through the lens of how we set up the season before. Now we are talking about left “8’s” and inverted fullbacks. Who knows what innovative formation(s) we’ll be talking about next season? By now we should know that Super Mik isn’t afraid to switch things up formation-wise. There’s no doubt that Havertz is a good player with a high football IQ, so for now I am leaning more towards things working out for us. He’s not going to be a flop; it’s… Read more »
My guess is…. Arteta wants to use him in a 3 that rotate on that left side. City do something similar where three players advance up the flank and rotate positions around and around (like running in a little circle) until a hole opens up in the defence. Having him, with Martinelli, and with Zinky/Tierney coming up gives us that option, but you need players who can cross and nail it. This german guy can do that, so it’s a good signing imo. Will see within the first month or so.
Would rather we sort the Rice deal out please
Patience.
Stan is busily looking down every sofa as we speak.
We can Have err Rice too.
I’ll take my coat
Despite a poor run at Chelsea, his underlying stats remained excellent…because of that I think we’ll see pretty quickly see the upside to this deal, even though it looks pretty poor value at the moment.
Stop being so sensible! 🙂
Will it be:
Kai Havertz – the player who won the PL for the Arsenal, or
Kai Havertz – the payer who cost Arteta his job
£65M?
“I call that getting swindled and pimped, shit
I call that getting tricked by business”
“when life gives you lemons,
you paint that shit gold”
lot of folks here are not backpack rap fans, it seems
I have no idea what a “backpack rap fan” is, but I didn’t thumb you down.
2012 was a long time ago.
Peak Atmosphere. Nice. You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having.
Let’s see. He ticks a lot of boxes. I feel super Mik can unlock the clear talent he has. Exciting signing imo, regardless of price.
Yeah, that’s what’s I’m hoping for: Mikel and Edu nailing it again like they did with Martin, Ramsdale, Trossard et al. Undoubtedly he has potential for what he had shown in Bundesliga, in other hand he was so shit at the sucker-joy-billionaires-toy blue Death Star.
Do you have an accountancy background?
Trying to remember if these lines are from the original ‘Thrift Shop’, or Gunnerblog’s parody of it where he played Wenger and Gazidis singing that song…
That was brilliant. When I met James last summer I told him it was the best thing he’s ever done. His take on “Let it Go” was also fantastic.
I just realised he is mainly left-footed today while watching an old reel from his Leverkusen days. Arteta might see him as the ideal replacement for Granit Xhaka – tall, pacy and capable of chipping in with a few goals. His ability to also play across the front three seems a bonus.
If this goes through, it will be a hearty “Welcome to Arsenal, Kai Havertz,” from me.
Your comment has made me realize that City get some of their tactical flexibility from having intelligent players who can play either as one of two more advanced midfielders or on the wings: De Bruyne (though think that changed once Haaland arrived), Silva, and Foden are all examples. The closest players in our team are Smith-Rowe, Vieira, and Trossard; arguably, neither of them are as capable in both positions, at least not yet. As Havertz adds flexibility/versatility, he can hopefully help us become less predictable next season.
Add Marez, Grealish or sterling in the past, MA is trying to replicate that and with quality players so there is no drop on quality.
So maybe out first XI will be:
Rammers
White-Saliba-Gabby-Zinny
Rice-Ode-Havertz
Saka-Jesus-Martinelli
It’s not half bad. Still quite a shake up in the middle, but it’s a more mobile team.
Mobile, and almost every one of them is very good on the ball
Every season is unique and different from the last. Form and fitness determine the starters not fan opinion and definitely not fan favourite starting 11s. Take last season for example, who knew Xhaka would be used as an 8? This time last year the internet was rife with a “Xhaka upgrade ” with people pissed he hadn’t been sold to Roma. Secondly nobody gave Martinelli a chance in their dream “starting 11” because The Smith was the chosen one on the left off that impressive scoring season the season before. Injuries to one and form for the other served us… Read more »
🤤
If we play with two inverted fullbacks alongside a traditional six, does that mean we could play with five attackers?
This is very Arteta thinking…
4-3-3 which becomes a 2-3-5 in possession. Havertz can play all 5 offensive positions. Should be a pretty helpful signing.
Yeah but there’s only one problem with your thinking on this. He’s fkn shit.
The Tifo IRL video made me feel a lot more comfortable about this as I try to trust the process
Brilliant signing. Xhaka replacement, and someone capable of replacing Jesus.
I actually think the price is fair.
Agree he is a brilliant signing. Not sure he will play Xhaka’s position but we shall see.
how long before MBS tries to buy the premier league outright
I’ve read about 4 different ‘guaranteed fees’ today ranging from £50m-£62m. Ben Jacobs is even saying it could go up to £67.5 will add ons.
Hope he ends up justifying the hype he had before he moved to Chelsea, because I can’t help but feel we are slightly overpaying them here…
There’s a strong chance that Havertz will be the replacement for Xhaka in the #8 role, and then this signing makes a lot more sense. We shouldn’t get confused by Chelsea’s craziness – Havertz was always a midfielder at Bayer, playing in any of the 6, 8 and 10 roles. He is certainly more skilled and mobile than Xhaka and will have plenty of aerial presence in the middle of the park. We’ll miss Xhaka’s combative presence, but tight ball control is a valid alternative to going shoulder-to-shoulder with the opposition. Perfect age at 24. Arteta keeping everyone guessing on… Read more »
The ball control aspect is one that I haven’t seen talked about a lot. Sounds like he is very technically-gifted and does well in small spaces. We seem to place a value on that.
Will be converted into a lankey, powerful striker. Strength and height up from now. Boom.
Up front.. Not from.
Seems a lot for a position where we already have some options. We’re going down the road of City from a depth perspective…guess it’s needed if we’re going to compete.
Hopefully he recovers his form from the Bundesliga.
If he can play as a successful number 9 like he did for Leverkusen, strong, quick and really good in the air, then I think we are paying the right price for him. Added to that we already know he can hit the ground running in the P/L without any acclimatization issues and he is already personally settled in London. He could just turn out to be the Jesus upgrade we ideally are looking for…
As in – if he can play like he did for Leverkusen, but as a number 9 for us.
Super excited. Let’s not forget under who he played Tuchel and Potter who never managed to implement a clear system. We need that kind of player who run their socks off, take the ball down on long balls and is technically very gifted. My hunch is he will be scoring for fun in a stable system that has bunch of the ball and also assist like a king
The things I have seen from him (and it’s a decent sample of Chelsea games and a smaller one, but not irrelevantly small, for Germany): very good pace, smart runs, not lazy, and great technical quality. So, obviously, the possibility of an important player. But also, so far, a player who not only cannot finish his chances, but who lets almost every attack drift away in some manner that is hard to explain. If it’s only a lack of confidence, then this is a great deal. But . . .
to me he’s looked like a talented player with no motivation who is simply going through the motions- and yet every manager they’ve had has picked him (even in positions which are not his natural place), so that says something about how he trains and his work ethic.
it remains to be seen how he’ll be deployed, but it at least offers us more depth for when saka needs a day off
It would have been hard to retain motivation at Chelsea over the past season. “Shambles” at all levels barely covers it. We’ve seen how Arteta can get the best from players if they’re committed.
agreed- i don’t know much about his attitude other than what i can get from body language during matches (famously reliable, lmao), but he seems like a decent enough person considering what he’s done in the past (pledged a significant sum to help flood victims in germany, and has a foundation to help donkeys?)- so perhaps a more stable environment will help him flourish.
this is too big a deal for another pepe flop, so we need it to work.
Was that punintentional?
It hasn’t worked for him at chelsea, after his high profile and big money move. He’s clearly talented, its the application and attitude I worry about (and I had some of the same doubts over Trossard but he looks like he’s played for us for years already). That said, perhaps Mikel and the coaching staff can light a fire under his ass and help him turn his career around.
What the fuck does that even mean?
* Basil Fawlty voice
”I have a piece of your brain here……”
I think people are forgetting how little production Chelsea got from the wings.
If he does play up top for Arsenal, I see him as similar to Firmino at Liverpool in his prime. Technically the center forward but Saka and Martinelli the primary goal scorers.
What I find ironic is that we keep buying these Chelsea players every year and the players that actually want to come to Arsenal go to Chelsea. I think Caicedo should have been our number one target for his versatility and energy over Rice. Instead we just have Chelsea 60million towards their Caicedo signing. Crazy!!!
Not popular but I agree. £100m for Declan Rice is crazy money. He’s a good footballer but I’ve never seen him dominate a game by himself, for West Ham or for England. He’ll improve arsenal but not significantly
^That’s what I was worried about too. But he has some standout PL stats, including 3rd in distance covered, 9th in tackles and 10th in passes. The kid just does the dirty business that other players are too lazy to do.
If we don’t sign either of them Rice/Caicedo and they sign one of them you are 100% right,
Because you think caciedo should be our number one target doesn’t make it right. Just saying. Good for thought for ya.
Rotates well with Odegaard and Saka, can slot in Xhaka’s position and could even go up top as a second striker alongside Jesus when we’re chasing a game. Not bad, gives us another dimension at least.
He can play in Xhaka’s position?
In Xhaka’s latest position? Deffo!!
If he gets us goals and assists – listen, who am I to argue…..?
All I’ve seen on this site is people moaning about fucking money.
You’re Arsenal fans – not their accountants.
All aboard the Havertz Express.
Happy to get him, I do feel like he’s a high calibre player that can give us something different to what we already have. But there’s first of all a rehab job to be done after pulling him out of that stinking mess of a club to get his confidence back up and settle in with us… and then there’s the fee. I just don’t get why we had to pay that, who else was going to pay anything close to that for him? To a club that absolutely *needs* to sell no less. I’d feel so much better about… Read more »
I don’t know what to think about this…
– Chelsea had Mo Salah, De Bruyne and Lukaku and they all sucked for them. There’s a good chance Havertz follow the same path. Coaching and culture plays a huge part in players performance.
– Reports mention both Xhaka and Partey leaving the club. We will need two elite midfielders and that means top money. I don’t get the rush to get Havertz this early in the mercato for such a high price.
Lavia is for the future how about next season ?
Since when did we become so worried about the finances of the kroenkes? A few years ago everyone was bangin on about how we should spend some f*in money£££ and now everyone talking like they’re the wolf of wall street wantin us to be doin poundshop bargains just like wenger ala 1998! those days are gone – to me – 62£ for havertz make more sense than 90 for mudryk or even 100 for rice (hope we do it though!).
I’m worried about the finances of the club, not the Kroenkes, and we should all be worried about them. If we’re just going to be a club dependent on our sugar daddy owners who will pump up endless cash to buy whatever players our manager wants at whatever extortionate fees other clubs demand for them, then how the hell are we better than Chelsea or Man City? The whole point of Arsenal is that we’re a classier club who does things the right way. I’m not saying this isn’t the current plan at the club, but I think it’s completely… Read more »
Well, hopefully someone knows what their doing and are balancing the books – can’t say i checked out how ffp works – anyway my point was just that some people will never be happy no matter what the club does- your concerns are of course valid; my fav arse team is 07-08 – and that was a “cheap” team- I would be happy to keep going as we do – but if we are gonna compete with city we gonna have to spend – they can pay 50£ for phillips to sit on the bench, and 100£ on jack and… Read more »
It’s hard to know what to think before Mikel tells us something about where he thinks Kai will play. Chelsea seem to be a feeder club for us recently.
If you compare Mudryk of £100m to Havertz at £65, maybe it is some sort of bargain:-)
Welcome to the Arsenal Kai!
I’m sure he will explode with us and prove to everyone why he was one of the top talents in Europe a few years ago.
Although it may appear to some thet he’s another Chelsea reject and an expensive gamble however, that club is currently an absolute joke. The owners have no clue how to run the business, too busy trying to play EA Sports, FUT with their squad in real life They don’t know how to get the best ot of their bloated, patched together squad of misfits (and misfiring) stars. Go back and watch some highlights of him, his movement, link-up play, hold-up play, finishing… It’s all exemplary even though he’s been playing in a squad bereft of confidence. He has all of… Read more »
Fuck Chelsea!
65M with 200K+ pw seems to be too much esp as it helps Toon Todd escape FFP clutches. What next? Paying 80M to take Mudryk from Chavs?
Havertz may be a good player but surely he isn’t that good.
Fat Todd ‘Thanks Arse!, you just helped us buy Caicedo’ as he falls off his big chair in hysterics!
Artet@ has signed up the NEXT Th⚽mas Muller
Personally, I like this, not because of Havertz per se but because we’re being so positive in the market. Arteta wants someone so Edu makes it happen, great!
I like how you think Chris! Thanks for the perspective. I am going to stop whining about fees. Lately I have been whining a lot about the transfer fees as if it is coming out of my paycheck. I will stop that. We are a big club and we need to start acting like one! Let’s get Rice deal done too! If we win trophies, the player’s value will go up automatically.
Nice one arsenish, everyone is entitled to their opinion about costs and we all love a bargain but as long as the team is being elevated I’m here for it regardless of the money. And that especially applies for Declan Rice
We selling partey to Saudi and the cheats loaning him out to Chelsea, there is that possibility. I don’t get it why we have to sell Partey when he was the best midfielder in the league for 2/3rd of the season, kdb just timed it better. Partey is still elite and the Saudi league will exist in a year, we can still make cash then.
Havertz is a good signing though.
If havertz is going to be left 8, i think the biggest benefactor will be martinelli.. loved xhaka this season but he is not exactly a lock picker.. i can imagine the through balls he will send through to marti.. its all about facilitating our superstar wingers. Any moment now and martinelli will be banging them in like suarez. You heard it here first
Certainly have to trust what Arteta sees in him and like that we are continuing to go for players that are extremely versatile all over the pitch. Surprised how high we were willing to go to buy him and am fine with that if we also get Rice, but if we end up not getting Rice because we were unwilling to come up a bit on the offer yet pay 65 million for Havertz that is a different story.
We used to have better looking strikers, Havertz and Jesus are not in the same league as Giroud or Lord Bentner.
Imo an excellent signing. Premier/Champions League ready. I love our fans but they’re far from right on initial transfer opinions. White, Ramsdale, Jorginho, Trossard have proved you all wrong. Have faith in the squad, we’re only getting better. Love the fact that Havertz is the closest thing we’ve had to Bergkamp, can’t to see how Mikel integrates him
This is starter level money for a starter. He will be reinvented, or rather reverted, to being a link between attack and defense with end product that saw him become such a coveted talent in Germany. He does two things at an elite level: passing accuracy and ball progression. That helps from anywhere on the pitch but when you put a player like that opposite to Bukayo Saka, the league’s best dribbler and an elite ball carrier, opponents can no longer focus all their attention on the right wing. You also pair him with Zinchenko and Martinelli and that gives… Read more »
Fcuk! Feels like getting robbed with this deal. But now that he is ours…
Welcome to the Arsenal Kai! Get in there! Thrilled to have you join us!
Everyone wanted Havertz when he signed for Chelsea. He was the golden boy of Europe at the time. He’s clearly hugely talented, was given the task of playing out of position for Chelsea and carrying a joke of a team. Most players would fail in that environment. Arteta wouldn’t be in for him if he doesn’t have a plan for him.
I think this signing has all the potential to be brilliant but reserving judgement for now. It’s not a success until it is. That’s how it works.
Off topic – but I am getting the fat hump hearing about that cunt Ten fucking Haag and those United wannabes muscling in on the Rice situ.
Get this fucking shit put to bed Edu.
Come on!
COYG
Too right. City in as well and with Gundogan gone Rice could well be looking at their starting 11 and thinking he can be in there…..
City joined the race for rice.
Seriously hope that our negotiating tactics don’t come back and shaft us.
Yep, very frustrating, especially if it’s over 10 million (which is obviously a huge amount of money, but in this context it is a drop in the ocean). Rice could walk straight into the starting 11 now at City as well to replace Gundogan. If it’s true that City are bidding today as reported then this could be over….
Their money is the biggest threat to negotiations, as the league seems unwilling to (or i capable of) reign in their cheating.
Pathetic excuse. We could and should have bid £100m last week – a fee West Ham have wanted all along – and put this to bed.
Now Partey on his way out as well as Xhaka.
Too late to bid for Caicedo, as Chelsea will bomb us out of the water the same as City are doing now with Rice.
A total fucking cock up from Edu and Garlick.
We have bid close to £100m. West Ham know City can pay that money – and by the way City’s bid is the SAME as ours – more quickly. We are constrained by a need to pay it off over a longer period, they are not.
Close to £100m is not £100m – that is what West Ham have been asking for all along. As for financial constraints, that is a feeble argument given the wealth of our owner/majority shareholder. We (Edu/Garlick) have known the asking price for weeks in advance. Instead of agreeing terms with the club quickly, we have, yet again, low balled with two bids THAT EVERYONE KNEW would get rejected out of hand. Why do that if you also know that an inevitable bidding war – that everyone also knows we will ultimately walk away from – will ensue…? That is not… Read more »
Yeah but Rice isn’t worth 100mil. So we look elsewhere. Happens.
“Yeah but yeah but.”
For the billionth time, who would you bring in with the same leadership skills and Premiership and International experience as Rice – for cheaper, in less than a month.?
This isn’t FIFA23
(Forget Caicedo – he is on his way to Chelsea; we’ve just helped them finance the deal)
We’ve had it mate. Game over.
I called this weeks ago.
We never learn.
Looks like Arsenal dithering about over Rice has fucked the deal. If they really wanted him they should have shown intent instead of offering way below West Ham’s asking price. When will they learn?
One billion downvotes incoming.
Just warning you mate……
In answer to your question – never.
But if the player really only have ONE team in his mind where he wants to play next, then he would not just go to the team who bid the most money to his club?
Yeah but they’ll give him more cash per week too.
You mean like Mudryk?…
While he is not part of Arsenal, I would criticize the deal as it makes no sense and helps Chelsea avoid FFP (if any).
To me I would have preferred Mateo Kovacic who could have replaced Xhaka.
Fabrizio Romano just confirming City bid imminent – Rice open to ANY move – now down to the two clubs.
GAME OVER.
We never EVER fucking learn.
I don’t agree that it’s game over as Rice seems to want Arsenal but completely agree with the sentiment that it’s ridiculous this is even an issue. Should have got the deal done last week.
Very often it gets forgotten that selling clubs want this to happen. They make sure every step is publicized. They don’t have to agree to anything, nor should they until they can be sure that they’ve extracted maximum value. It doesn’t matter how much we bid or how proactive we are. If the selling club want to drag it out, it gets dragged out. I think Man City are in for Rice chiefly as a defensive measure. They know how good this will make Arsenal and they simply can’t let us have him. At the very least they’ll make us… Read more »
So according to your logic, there’s no point making a first bid, never mind a third. That’s absolute bollocks. Edu and Garlick KNEW FULL WELL that our two bids would be rejected by West Ham out of hand. They would ALSO have known that two failed bids would be enough to publicly trigger a bidding war against the oil rich clubs. All this chat of wanting to sign both Rice and Caicedo ‘quickly’ – not my words, David Ornsteins – looks extremely foolish now. That’s about as politely as I can put it. These excuses of us having financial constraints… Read more »
So its what ‘Kelvin Philips’ now for us? along with Havertz!
Dun think so . Read some news outlet that ManC is using Kekvib Philips in player + cash deal., which Moyes shared that he is keen in this player during his time at Leeds
But if the player really only have ONE team in his mind where he wants to play next, then he would not just go to the team who bid the most money to his club?
Money talks, my friend.
Which is why Josh, Edu and Garlick need to get a fucking grip and cough up – or we will simply lose out again.
And after all the big talk of ‘moving quickly’ and ‘nailing it’, it will nothing short of embarrassing if City simply rock up and bomb us out of the water, because we wouldn’t go the extra mile.