Mikel Arteta’s Kai Havertz Prediction Ignores Unfortunate Truth

Havertz scored on his first start in 357 days to inspire some wild speculation—chiefly from Arsenal’s manager.

Kai Havertz was back and on the scoresheet on Wednesday evening. | David Price/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta insisted that Kai Havertz’s return to fitness would take his team to “another level,” while wilfully ignoring the limitations which have always existed in the German forward’s game.

“It is going to give him a lot of confidence, and joy and energy and to the team, too,” Arteta gushed when reflecting of his forward’s triumphant comeback against the not so almighty Kairat Almaty on Wednesday evening. “The team knows how important Kai is for us and how he can help the team to be much better and take the team to another level.”

Havertz had a hand in all three goals against the side which would finish bottom of the Champions League league phase table. Dovetailing well with Viktor Gyökeres, who opened the scoring and missed a hatful of chance, Arsenal’s languid left-footer nabbed a goal of his own on his first start in 357 days.

The 3–2 win which secured a perfect league phase record helped dissipate the sense of anxiety and tension caused by Arsenal’s three-game winless run in the Premier League. Yet, the idea that the return of a player who has been front-and-centre for the club’s last two failed title bids will somehow miraculously solve this season’s problems was far too readily latched upon. No party was more guilty than Arteta.

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Arteta Overlooks Issue Havertz Shares With Gyökeres and Jesus

Viktor Gyökeres (left) and Gabriel Jesus (right) are fighting for the No. 9 role. | Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

Nothing is as short as a memory in the world of football. This was a point which Arteta vehemently made this time last year, when Havertz was subjected to deplorable online abuse for his failings in front of goal during an FA Cup exit to Manchester United a matter of days after his name had been cheered by the same supporters.

“There is no other industry like this,” the Arsenal manager lamented. “Where is the perspective?”

Now it is Arteta who seems to have limited recall.

It has been 358 days since Kai Havertz last started for Arsenal

He has a goal and TWO assists after 40 minutes in North London pic.twitter.com/uqMbEAdZTL

— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) January 28, 2026

Havertz has many strengths, but finishing has never been one of them. Since signing for Chelsea as the club’s record buy in 2020, the German forward has scored 41 Premier League goals. Based upon the quality and quantity of chances he has found for himself, the average professional finish would have been expected to score as many as 55, per UnderStat. This gross under-performance is a trait shared by both of Arsenal’s other centre forward options.

Gabriel Jesus’s repeated defiance of his xG figures is a feat to behold. The former Manchester City forward boasts a creditable 77 Premier League goals, yet could have as many as 104 had he taken the chances afforded to him. Over and under-performance with regards to xG can fluctuate over the short span of a season, yet Havertz and Jesus have proven to be prodigiously un-prolific.

Gyökeres has fallen foul of the fickle finishing fates this season—with Wednesday’s showing against Kairat the most egregious example of his blunted edge. The Swede squandered four of what Opta define as “big chances” in the space of 77 minutes.

Arsenal’s issues this season revolve around creating clear sights of goal from open play rather than finishing them off. Last season Havertz averaged fewer key passes than eight of his teammates, including make-shift centre forward Mikel Merino.

The Gunners fell short of two top-flight titles with Havertz in their ranks and he is not the miracle man that Arteta is casting him as. However, that’s not to say that he has some different qualities to offer.

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How Havertz Best Fits Into This Arsenal Team

Kai Havertz (right) was sensational in his first start of the season. | David Price/Arsenal FCGetty Images

There has been a debate surrounding Havertz’s best position for years. “I was getting annoyed with people asking me this,” he smiled through gritted teeth during his final season at Chelsea. “I can say I’m not a typical No. 9.” That much is true.

Arteta lined Havertz up in midfield alongside Eberechi Eze with Christian Nørgaard as the anchor against Kairat. Declan Rice and Martín Zubimendi are guaranteed to start any match of significance for Arsenal, leaving just Martin Ødegaard’s attacking midfield slot open to the German.

Ødegaard has endured his own issues this season—largely from a lack of fluency provided by consistent fitness battles—but Havertz’s best performances for Arsenal have come alongside his captain as dual-false nines.

This method completely bamboozled Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool on a number of occasions, repeatedly baiting the centre-back pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté into No Man’s Land before spearing behind them.

“He is a unique player,” Arteta said of Havertz, “in the areas he can occupy and the way he gets associated with all the players. He is a player that understands so well what we want to do, he copes really well with pressure and different demands.”

Havertz has different strengths to offer Arsenal, but whether he can singlehandedly take the Premier League and Champions League leaders to a different level is another matter entirely.

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