GERMANY HAV BIG DILEMMA
A FAMILIAR debate has been raging about Kai Havertz in Germany this week.
With the Euros just 12 weeks away, it is whether Havertz should start for the tournament hosts in their friendly with France in Lyon tonight.
The Arsenal striker is the favourite but Niclas Füllkrug and Denis Undav are also in the mix as Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann prepares to experiment ahead of the Euros.
Nagelsmann loves Havertz, even to the point of playing him at left back last November against Turkey and Austria. But the chat remains in the German media about where his best position is.
Havertz, who has played as a centre forward, false nine, midfielder and wide left, even joked recently when doing a post-match interview with Sky’s Jamie Redknapp that he was happy to play at left back if needed.
That is why coaches love him and why Mikel Arteta signed him, stuck with him and has now championed him as a huge part of Arsenal’s title push.
But even at Arsenal, the debate has raged among fans as to where he should play.
Song
Arsenal supporters have adapted the Anthony Martial song and have been singing: “£65m down the drain, Kai Havertz scores again” to mock the negativity surrounding his arrival from Chelsea last summer.
Havertz had big shoes to fill when he arrived but not only did he take Grant Xhaka’s place in midfield, he also moved into the former Gunners captain’s house.
It took a while for him to find his best position but he is a gifted, technical player who immediately took to Arteta’s intense and demanding training sessions.
He has a razor-sharp football brain, has scored the winner in a Champions League final and he understood the methodology much better than most.
He is known as a likeable character around the training ground, down to earth and pleasant. He has bought into the club’s ideals, community programmes and charity work.
On the pitch it took him time to discover his best role in the team. Despite snipes from Chelsea fans who do not watch Arsenal very often, he was playing brilliantly before Christmas and has now hit a real purple patch.
Since Arsenal’s warm weather camp in Dubai, Havertz has scored in four straight Premier League games and he has played as a false nine. He is keeping fit-again Gabriel Jesus out of the team.
Complete
It is not just his goals but his work off the ball and his runs into the box unlock space for other players. He is a complete package.
Havertz has been a difficult puzzle to solve ever since he joined Chelsea for €83m in 2020. His winning goal in the Champions League final turned a mediocre season into a memorable one.
But other coaches could not get the best out of him and he was seen as a vanity project for Arteta by the time he arrived at Arsenal.
However, the fact that Arteta and Nagelsmann, Thomas Tuchel before them, have put so much faith in Havertz says everything about his talent, and why he stands such a great chance of getting the nod from Nagelsmann tonight and against Scotland at the opening match of the Euros on June 14.