Lee Dixon raves over Arsenal star who's "very unique" to Arteta

Lee Dixon raves over Arsenal star who’s “very unique” to Arteta

Let’s cast our minds back to the conclusion of the summer transfer window last year. Arsenal had just spent a seismic sum of money, notably to bring Declan Rice to the Emirates Stadium.

For a brief moment, Rice became a British record transfer, signing on for a grand total of £105m. Also welcomed with open arms to north London was £65m Kai Havertz and David Raya on loan. Jurrien Timber arrived too, captured for £38m.

However, besides the ever-impressive Rice, Arsenal’s summer signings suddenly looked like poor business after the opening months of the campaign.

Timber sustained a devastating ACL injury on the opening weekend of the Premier League season and hasn’t been seen since. Raya’s first few weeks after replacing Aaron Ramsdale looked nervy and it took until November for Havertz to find a goal from open play.

Yet, as has often been the case since he became Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta got it right.

Raya has stood out the more he plays and was the penalty hero in the Champions League against Porto while Havertz’s fortunes have changed considerably.

Kai Havertz’s season in numbers

£65m on Havertz, you say? Yeah, it’s a pretty outrageous sum of money for a player who struggled to stand out for the right reasons at Chelsea.

There was that famous night when he scored the winning goal in the Champions League final but beyond that the German never really got going, scoring just 32 goals across 139 appearances for the Blues.

A move was required and Arsenal came calling. However, the opening few months were riddled with criticism. His only goal for the Gunners across the first 12 league outings was a penalty against Bournemouth.

Fortunately, he’s now revived his fortunes and become one of the most important members of Arteta’s side.

2024 has been the year of Havertz who has scored in each of his last four league matches, also providing two assists in that time. The £280k-per-week man – who takes home the highest salary of any Arsenal player – is emphatically proving his doubters wrong.

He’s impressed many, including former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon who has been delighted with his recent appearances in the red and white.

What Lee Dixon has said about Kai Havertz

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast on behalf of BetVictor Casino Dixon swooned over the 24-year-old’s displays in recent times, admitting that while he always believed there was a player in there at Chelsea, he was initially on the fence about his move across London.

“Firstly, yeah, he’s done really well,” Dixon began. “I was one of those – and it’s easy to say after the event – but I was one of those who sat on the fence and said, ‘look let’s give him a little chance’. You know, people will go ’why have you spent that money on him? He’s rubbish.’

“Some of the commentators and people were set on their opinion and that’s absolutely what they should do if that’s what they believe, but I just thought, we’ve all seen stuff in him when he was at Chelsea and there is a player in there, it’s just a case of finding a home and it looks like he’s really comfortable now.”

“I think when you’ve got a player who seems to be a confidence player – not everybody is – but we all like to play with confidence in the place where we think nothing’s going to go wrong. Some players can play through that and he looks like that player.”

Havertz has played in a number of roles since signing for Arsenal. Arteta initially thought the German could act as a replacement for Granit Xhaka in the no.8 role but his best displays have actually come as a false 9.

With Gabriel Jesus injured and Eddie Nketiah not preferred, the former Chelsea man has been entrusted as the focal point of the attack and delivered some truly impressive displays.

That’s thanks to what Dixon thinks is an incredibly ‘unique’ profile. Discussing Havertz’s best qualities and play style, the former England international commented: “He’s showing that he feels at home and the positions that he’s taken up and his ability to be dangerous around the box gives Arsenal just a little bit of an extra dynamic.”

“So, instead of players looking at him going ‘oh, Kai Havertz? He’s not going to cause much trouble’, now all of a sudden he is a problem. He changes how teams play against you. He’s got a very unique style to his play in that he is quite languid at times. And then other times he’s really athletic. So he’s quite different to a lot of players that Arsenal have which is a good thing.”

So, the mega-money signing has turned his career around at just the right time. Arsenal face a massive test in the title race when they face Manchester City on Sunday. They then have to take on Bayern Munich in the Champions League. If they are to come through those ties with victories in hand, they will need Havertz at his best.

Related

Lee Dixon delivers verdict on Ben White’s England snub

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Lee Dixon delivered his verdict on Ben White.