The €75 million dilemma, or a huge blunder that puts Arsenal in an unenviable situation. Even the fans are getting angry

Mikel Arteta has envisioned a stellar midfield of Havertz – Rice – Ødegaard, but that vision is starting to get some big cracks. The German midfielder has been putting in some appalling performances and patience is starting to wear thin even with the fans who were unkind to him on social media after the Brentford game.

Arsenal are playing well again and have not tasted the bitterness of defeat in the current season. It was Kai Havertz who was supposed to be one of the key figures in the Gunners’ quest for the league title, but that idea didn’t last long.

After the opening few games, Arteta started preferring other players and when he does give the 24-year-old midfielder an opportunity, there is no question of him being happy about it at the end of the game.

Havertz, on the other hand, often messes up, which increasingly has the effect of making him pass for confidence, which of course is not why he is on the pitch. The German talent should be the one who comes up with interesting and surprising actions and is a threat to the opposition’s defence.

However, this is not the case at all and after Wednesday’s game, which Arsenal won against Brentford 1-0, and Havertz played the whole game, another wave of criticism came down on him.

Fans on social media did not spare him at all. “Kai Havertz isn’t good enough, he looks lost,” a Gunners fan commented on his performance. “Kai Havertz is afraid of the ball, has no confidence and takes no risks, ” wrote another. “It hurts to watch him, ” a London fan put it bluntly.

Of course, every transfer goes wrong, but when you pay 75 million euros for a player, it’s worse. This whole situation must be unpleasant, especially for coach Arteta.

He knows that Havertz has tremendous potential, which he went to England with. Chelsea have really underperformed recently and it’s no wonder the German midfielder hasn’t shone so much. However, Arsenal are on a high level as far as the game is concerned, so teammates won’t be a problem.

So Arteta now has a dilemma in front of him which will be hard to solve properly. After all, Havertz needs to play to regain his confidence and showcase why the London club paid such a huge amount for him.

It’s just that Arsenal are aiming for the top tier and can’t afford to have such a drag on the team, which the German midfielder certainly represents. In the end, you will always be judged by the stats and an attacking midfielder who doesn’t have a goal or an assist to his name after 9 games cannot be judged positively.

Personally, I dare to say that if we were talking about a significantly cheaper signing, he would get significantly less time on the pitch. But we are talking about Havertz, who has a lot of potential, the question is whether he can carry the burden and fulfill it.

Kevin De Bruyne or Mohamed Salah needed to leave the Premier League for a while to come back and become stars, so let’s see if a similar fate awaits the Aachen native.

Source: Transfermarkt, Arsenal, Whoscored