Arsenal: Kai Havertz so much more than Aaron Ramsey replacement

Kai Havertz has stated that a decision will be made on his future in the summer. Should Arsenal sign him as an Aaron Ramsey replacement, they would be getting a whole lot more.

Aaron Ramsey will leave Arsenal football club this summer. The Welshman, after more than a decade with the club, will move to Italian giants Juventus when his contract expires. As a result, the Gunners, as has been widely reported recently, will be forced into the transfer market to look for his replacement.

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There are plenty of names that have surfaced as possible targets. But there is one that stands head and shoulders above all the others: Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz.

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Just this week, Havertz revealed that a decision on his future would be made this summer:

"“The media push it all up a bit and I know that I have a contract here and I want to do everything we can to put us in an international position at the end of the season. There is a lot of speculation, but I still have a contract here until 2022. In the summer we know more. I do not believe everything that’s in the paper, there’s a lot of talk in general, some things are true, some are not. I personally can handle the headlines well because I know what I want.”"

The chances of Arsenal making a move for Havertz are extremely slim. I highly doubt any rumours linking him with a north London switch. But I am sure you can forgive me dreaming, for just a brief moment. Because if Havertz did arrive as a Ramsey replacement, he would provide a whole lot more than the Welshman.

The 19-year-old is already the complete attack-minded midfielder. Like Ramsey, he has an eye for goal, scoring 13 in all competitions this season already. He is a strong dribbler, has a terrific passing range, especially in threading through passes into onrushing attackers, and is extremely creative in the final third. He has six assists in all competition this season and has created just short of one chance per 90 minutes this season.

Havertz is playing at a level comparable to Ramsey’s peak. And he is 19. The German is not just a Ramsey replacement. He is a truly world-class central midfield prospect. And that is something that Ramsey once was but never quite fulfilled.

This is not meant as a slight to Ramsey. He was and is a terrific player. He has been a key component of Arsenal’s success and his talented has been betrayed by injury. But it would be naive and over-reaching to argue that he fulfilled his potential. He didn’t. And now it is Havertz’s turn to see if he can.

In the end, all of this is rather meaningless. Havertz is never going to be an Arsenal player. But calling him just a Ramsey replacement is to belie his true quality. He is so much more than a Ramsey successor.