3 transfer mistakes that Arsenal are still paying the price for today
There are still issues that need to be fixed from last year
Poorly timed sales are also haunting the Gunners today
By Kenneth Daly
2. The misuse of Kai Havertz
Arsenal ‘fixed’ it by purchasing a not-at-all-similar Kai Havertz- and it did not work.
Our Havertz-LCM experiment was part of the plan at first, with reports suggesting he was indeed considered to be Xhaka’s successor. However, it amounted to a ‘square-peg, round-hole’ situation as Havertz is not an accomplished passer and, thus, did not get the best out of our rich offensive reserves.
Frustrations were compounded/assuaged in the spring when the German star moved to center-forward and proceeded to take the Premier League by storm, registering 15 goal contributions in 14 games to bring us to the title brink.
What might have been if Havertz moved up front sooner or if Arsenal had just brought in a natural heir to Xhaka and not relied on Thomas Partey, who suffered a near season-ending injury almost as soon as the transfer window shut.
It looked unwise at the time and is no less a mistake in hindsight (even if Havertz still plays in midfield on occasion).
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