Kai Havertz struggled to adapt to life at Arsenal following his £65m switch, but after three goals in his last five outings, is the German proving he is the all-action midfielder Mikel Arteta thought he was getting after all?

It’s difficult to think of a transfer in the last few years that raised quite as many questions as Kai Havertz’s short hop from west to north London last summer. 

There was plenty of sceptics asking hy are Arsenal buying a Chelsea flop? Plus there was concern over whether he was still scoffing the gummy bears at half-time. And, of course, the repeated cries of “how much?!”.

Let’s face it, his time at Stamford Bridge was below par. A tendency to score goals in big finals overshadowed a poor return of 32 goals and 15 assists in 139 appearances in blue after signing for £89million.

In his defence, Havertz was always going to struggle to make statements when he was playing a different role every single week, and there is in that sense a pretty good argument that he was a victim of his own versatility. 

At Chelsea he played 65 per cent of his minutes as a striker in what quickly became a rudderless mess at the end of his three years. The fact that his 0.39 expected goals and 0.29 actual goals per 90 in the Premier League ranked third at the club during his stay speaks volumes.  

The German has played in every single game this season – no other Arsenal player has managed that feat

It comes after a number of questions were asked on his arrival to the club following a poor spell with Chelsea

He was hardly tearing up any trees when he first arrived at the Emirates Stadium either, but a player of his ilk requires more time to get used to the movement and flow of a team than most; he has to learn how his own weaving 

But that brings us to the most important question of all – and one that we might now have an answer to: what exactly is Kai Havertz?

A cursory glance at his numbers is enough to tell you that he is not a striker, contrary to Chelsea’s stubborn intentions, while he does not possess quite enough pace and guile to be a wide forward, nor the frame or physicality of a deeper-lying midfielder.

At Bayer Leverkusen – were he shot to prominence as a genuinely terrifying prospect – he played in eight different positions, but mostly as a central attacking midfielder, driving from deep towards goal, rather than being the sole outlet up top.

Therein is a good starting point, and one that Mikel Arteta evidently understood from the off, and has resisted the urge not to play him as a No 9, much to his team’s benefit.  

Arsenal fans might have been forgiven for thinking they were going to dip into the market to replace the invigorated Granit Xhaka who was robbed of a fairytale ending to his north London metamorphosis.

Instead they were perhaps left wondering why they had splashed £65m on a second No 10, despite captain Martin Odegaard surely holding an iron-like grip on that role.

The truth is, Havertz is neither a No 10, nor a No 8 – nor even a No 9 or No 6 – what the German does better than most doesn’t really have a number.

The German international’s spell at Chelsea did not quite go to plan and he was labelled a flop

Declan Rice’s stunning first few months at the club have perhaps marked Havertz’s impact

The 24-year-old’s heat map shows just how prevalent he is at both ends of the pitch, much like a traditional box-to-box midfielder might be, while his attacking movement is concentrated in the left-hand third of the pitch, similar to a mezzala. 

But unlike both those roles, he arrives late in the penalty area causing mayhem in and around the six-yard box like a deep-lying forward, to add extra confusion to the not-so simple task of defining the Germany star. 

But one thing is for sure; he improves Arsenal. He forces them to get on the front foot with an average of 6.2 forward passes per game, and his five goals and one assist in all competitions highlight a growing influence on the Gunners’ attack after his bedding-in period. 

This season the Gunners have won praise for becoming harder to break down, if somewhat less eye-catching in attack, and again a lot of that is down to the introduction of Havertz in midfield. 

Defensively he is a crucial obstacle in midfield for any team looking to hit Arsenal on the counter, with an average per game of 1.2 tackles, 0.5 interceptions, 2.9 ball recoveries and 4.5 duels won. 

Only one attacking midfielder from all the current top six sides has more expected goals than Havertz’s 0.37 (Cody Gakpo has 0.4), and just four have attempted more shots – and interestingly none of those have beaten his four league goals. 

At 1.93m tall he is also a sizeable presence – at that tall it doesn’t matter so much how much meat there is on his bones because it takes a lot to move him. 

In more important terms, though, he provides the Gunners with an outlet under the high ball, and is yet another bulldozer to try and halt from set-pieces. 

Havertz’s size also makes him a crucial tool in Arteta’s midfield Arsenal, standing at 1.93m

Only Cody Gakpo has more expected goals this season than Havertz out of all midfielders currently in the top six

Moreover, the fact that he can play in a number of positions is a huge boon to Arteta, who is looking to compete on three fronts and go deep in the Champions League. 

An injury to Jesus? Suddenly there is a third option after Eddie Nketiah. Odegaard unavailable? There’s your No 10 lined up. Backs to the wall? He can drop deeper and feature as more of a traditional No 8 to close out the win. 

His versatility, while something that hampered his progress at Chelsea, has been treated with more freedom to impact the game how he feels in the moment, rather than confine him to one particular role for the whole game.

For someone who seems so graceful in possession, there is a tenacity to Havertz’s running, finishing second in the entire league last term for total runs (1021), runs into the box (313) and targeted runs into the box (116). 

Then there are the more intangible qualities he brings to the side. Havertz has already showcased one of the new strings he adds to Arteta’s bow, interchanging up top with Jesus with balletic ease, and he has an Aaron Ramsey-esque ability to arrive late in the box.  

One by one, Havertz seems to be scrubbing off the questions surrounding his arrival over the summer, and is fast becoming one of the Gunners’ key figures as they challenge once more for the English crown. 

Nobody has featured more often than the German this season for Arsenal – in fact he is the only player to play in each and every one of the club’s games in all competitions. 

Arteta’s faith in his new signing has seen the confidence that he had in his rise to the top with Bayer Leverkusen start to come back, flashes of the freedom and joy with which he used to play can be seen at the Emirates.

As a result, he is already becoming a fan favourite; affectionate choruses of ‘£65m down the drain, Kai Havertz scores again’ can be heard across north London with increasing regularity, providing a fitting soundtrack to the German’s resurgence under Arteta. 

He is not there as back up to Odegaard, to replace Xhaka, nor even to compete with Jesus because he can’t quite do what those Arsenal stars past and present can. 

Havertz is unique in his very own way, and just as he might not be able to replicate their feats, nor could they fill his own shoes in an Arsenal side which he undoubtedly improves.