Kai Havertz: HavHurts

[Rain Dance]

We've had far, far, far, far worse players than Havertz treated with more respect and reverence.

show me another player that gets this support from the club when they are being booed

 

[Entropics]

He's arguably the embodiment of our current era after we finally got rid of Xhaka. Does an alright job but couldn't feel less Arsenal.

 

[jones]

Shows people don’t actually care about what happens on the pitch just their own weird personal dislike. If we got him straight from Germany instead of Chelsea he wouldn’t get this level of hatred.

He'd have been a much better player if we got him from Leverkusen, Chelsea haven't just destroyed his confidence they literally changed him as a player type. If they had signed Özil in 2013 he probably would have looked like he does today within months.

 

[GDeep™]

Olivier Giroud. You'd swear he won us 5 Champions League Titles and 10 League titles the way Arsenal fans talk about the oaf.

He was hated what you talking about. The fan base wanted Walcott to play striker. Fans were begging for a new striker for years to replace him.

The fact we’re desperate to spend 70-80M on a striker this summer tells you Kai hasn’t been the answer. That’s not on Kai either, the guy does give it his all.

 

[jaystewart]

The reaction is definitely 'We missed out on the league marginally and it hurts therefore Havertz is the absolute worst ever'.

 

[outlawz]

The worst Arsenal signing since Nicolas Pepe, given his transfer fee (£65m) and his wages (£280k per week, highest Arsenal earner).
I don't blame Havertz, I blame Arteta for his transfer (100% responsible) and those in the club who gave him this salary.
Probably Arteta's biggest mistake (or sin).
Season before he arrived we were 2nd, his first season we were 2nd (he played 1/3 of season as midfielder-it was bad, 2/3 of season as striker - decent), his second season we were 2nd (2/3 of season as striker - decent, 1/3 of season - injured).
You expect for you highest earner to make difference, he didn't make difference.
Liverpool's highest earners are Salah and VVD, clearly difference makers
They are buying Wirtz for record fee (150m) and he will earn a lot, they expect that he will be difference maker.
City's highest earners are Haaland and KDB, clearly difference makers

We brought Merino as midfielder for free and his wages are £130k per week, and he replaced Havertz when he was injured and he has 9G+5A playing as striker 3 months. Havertz has 15G+5A as striker this season (6 months before injury). And as actual midfielder Merino looked better than Havertz as midfielder in Arsenal
Had Havertz's salary been around £150k per week, he would have been excellent squad player.

Another problem with Havertz is that his transfer has blocked Arsenal to sign proper striker since he arrived.
We expect to bring proper striker now (Šeško or Gyokeres, I expect that any of them is better striker than Havertz) who will become first striker in our squad.
What about Havertz then?
Would he become squad player (like Merino)?
Squad player and highest earner, awkward situation.

Havertz by all objective measures has been a better signing than Gabriel Jesus. I was a huge GJ fan and he was my favourite player, but let's be honest - he's been the worst signing we've made under Arteta.

Havertz at least contributes - Jesus hasn't contributed outside of his 4 goals pre-recent-injury and first 6 months when he transformed us.

People scapegoating Havertz over Jesus is hilarious.

 

[Trilly]

People need to stop being hyperbolic about Havertz he’s not the worst signing or a bad player. He does the role Arteta wants from the striker well.

So missing big chances and underperforming his xG is now what we call performing the striker role ‘well’.

Mikel also trying to replace him too but what do I know.

 

[A_M Iniesta]

Im sorry but if Sesko has a tough time banishing this waste man to the cup game/rotation shadow realm I’d be very disappointed and it would be a major indictment on Sesko as a striker.

 

[Legend14]

Kai is a good player for us; not sure why some do not see this. He’ll start many matches and do well, this is just the reality because he has many attributes.

We can do better in finishing by signing more talent and by Kai improving in that area. Let’s hope both happen, we’ll need trusted options.

I see Kai rotating into 10 in place of Ødegaard, which will give us a different dynamic when needed.

 

[GDeep™]

Im sorry but if Šeško has a tough time banishing this waste man to the cup game/rotation shadow realm I’d be very disappointed and it would be a major indictment on Šeško as a striker.

Sesko is a 21 year old from Germany. Will need a need a year to adjust to England, if not more.

Gyokores is the guy you would expect to come in and take the CF spot, he’s older and has English experience.

 

[A_M Iniesta]

Šeško is a 21 year old from Germany. Will need a need a year to adjust to England, if not more.

Gyokores is the guy you would expect to come in and take the CF spot, he’s older and has English experience.

Gyok is my no.1 preferred option. This is my contingency opinion on Benji, he’s like the favored option by data nerds and club hierarchy

 

[BigPoppaPump]

So missing big chances and underperforming his xG is now what we call performing the striker role ‘well’.

Mikel also trying to replace him too but what do I know.

Every striker is gonna miss chances can't really hold that against him and i don't really car eabout xG most of these stats don't mean much. I don't get why people act like stats are the be all end all of football this isn't the NBA.

You just don't like Havertz and it's ok, he's not your type of player I get it but it's obvious bias clouding your judgement.

 

[db10_therza]

@Trilly I see we’re in the “Goals are just statistics at the end of the day, they don’t tell you anything about football” endgame.

Enjoy

 

[BigPoppaPump]

@Trilly I see we’re in the “Goals are just statistics at the end of the day, they don’t tell you anything about football” endgame.

Enjoy

The team scores more goals when Havertz is playing though, no wonder our goals scored this season is much less than last season after he got injured.

This is the issue, people don't really understand the role Havertz plays or how this team plays in general. Most people need to be told by others how to think instead of being able to make sense of it themselves.

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

We will be there

 

[squallman]

He was hated what you talking about. The fan base wanted Walcott to play striker. Fans were begging for a new striker for years to replace him.

The fact we’re desperate to spend 70-80M on a striker this summer tells you Kai hasn’t been the answer. That’s not on Kai either, the guy does give it his all.

Hated? I remember Arsenal fans excusing that dipshit and his "Thank you Arsenal" comment when Chelsea won the cup.

Excuses were made all over the shop for him too. The man cost us two league titles with goalless droughts of 14+ league games on consecutive seasons.

I don't like Havertz but if he did that, he couldn't step onto the pitch without being booed out of the building.

 

[Riou]

Hated? I remember Arsenal fans excusing that dipshit and his "Thank you Arsenal" comment when Chelsea won the cup.

Excuses were made all over the shop for him too. The man cost us two league titles with goalless droughts of 14+ league games on consecutive seasons.

I don't like Havertz but if he did that, he couldn't step onto the pitch without being booed out of the building.

Mate, mate, mate.

Pretty much all our non Highbury players are terrible.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Hated? I remember Arsenal fans excusing that dipshit and his "Thank you Arsenal" comment when Chelsea won the cup.

Excuses were made all over the shop for him too. The man cost us two league titles with goalless droughts of 14+ league games on consecutive seasons.

I don't like Havertz but if he did that, he couldn't step onto the pitch without being booed out of the building.

Lacazette went on like a 4 month goal drought and everyone treated him like a make a wish kid once he finally scored.

Havertz would’ve been chased out the country if he did the same thing.

 

[Trilly]

@Trilly I see we’re in the “Goals are just statistics at the end of the day, they don’t tell you anything about football” endgame.

Enjoy

I’m not engaging

 

[maxxspeed]

I genuinely believe that by the end of the 2026 season, if we sign Zubimendi, Havertz will end up replacing Ødegaard in midfield.

Zubimendi and Ødegaard appear to have overlapping traits—both thrive in orchestrating play and maintaining tempo—but Zubimendi offers more defensive stability and positional discipline. That opens the door for Havertz to operate in a more advanced role.

With his work rate, physicality, and finishing ability, Kai brings a different dynamic to midfield—one that complements Zubimendi better than Ødegaard’s profile does.