Arsenal haven’t started the 2023/24 Premier League season in quite the manner that Mikel Arteta would have envisioned.
With last seasons meltdown across the final few weeks still in the mind, the Spaniard opened the campaign with a Community Shield win over Manchester City, before taking six points from six against Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace.
The free-flowing football isn’t quite there yet, however, and a poor performance against Fulham last weekend saw the Gunners having to settle for just a point and Arteta will be aiming for a better performance against Manchester United tomorrow.
With the squad needing some major strength in depth added to it, the north London side signed just four players, and it remains to be seen whether those new faces will lead the club to glory this term.
Who did Arsenal sign in the transfer window?
Arteta managed to secure the services of David Raya, Jurrien Timber, Kai Havertz and Declan Rice for a combined total of £208m and it’s clear the manager means business.
Moving on players such as Folarin Balogun, Granit Xhaka and Matt Turner has allowed Arteta to trim the squad and with Champions League football gracing the Emirates for the first time since the 2016/17 campaign, quality over quantity looks like it is his preferred strategy.
Only two of their new signings have featured for the club in competitive matches so far – Rice and Havertz – and while the former West Ham United man has settled into life well at the club, the German has struggled to make an impression following his surprise move from Chelsea.
How has Kai Havertz performed so far?
The former Bayer Leverkusen attacker joined the Blues in 2020 and over his three full seasons, he registered 47 goal contributions – 32 goals and 15 assists – across 139 games, also scoring the goal which secured Chelsea their second Champions League trophy in 2021.
Last season however, the 24-year-old scored just nine goals in 47 matches as the Blues slumped to a bottom half finish in the Premier League and the move to Arsenal was perhaps the fresh start he required in order to fulfil the potential which saw him make the move to England in the first place.
In Arsenal’s three league matches so far, Havertz has failed to score or assist and currently ranks tenth out of the whole squad for overall match rating, while also ranking outside the top ten for shots on target per game, third for big chances missed and third for key passes per game, suggesting that he isn’t having the impact which Arteta hoped for.
Having operated as a striker for Chelsea, the player has played across three positions already under Arteta, central midfield, attacking midfield and as a centre-forward as the manager is clearly trying to work out what is his most productive position.
He will have to figure it out sooner rather than later. Perhaps the Gunners boss should have made a move for another target who eventually joined a Premier League club following months of speculation – Mohammed Kudus.
Should Arsenal have signed Mohammed Kudus?
The Emirates outfit were linked with a plethora of names during the transfer window, but Kudus was one of the more exciting names mentioned, especially with his meteoric rise over the previous 12 months.
According to Football Transfers back in July, Arsenal were prepared to sell up to six first team players in order to raise funds for the signing of the former Ajax starlet, yet no move ever materialised.
One of the longest-running transfer sagas of the summer ended recently when Kudus joined West Ham for £38m, which could represent a stunning bargain, but could he have been a better signing than Havertz for Arsenal?
The Ghanaian talent is also extremely versatile, like Havertz, yet he has impressed in both an attacking midfield and centre forward role for Ajax over the previous year.
Indeed, when compared to his positional peers, Kudus ranks in the top 1% for non-penalty goals (0.56) and successful take-ons per 90 (4.36), the top 2% for total shots per 90 (3.57) and the top 3% for touches in the attacking penalty area per 90 (6.54), indicating just how much of a danger he is in the final third, ghosting past defenders and doing everything he can to score during matches.
In comparison, Havertz, has averaged just 0.21 non-penalty goals per 90 and 0.75 successful take-ons per 90, while also averaging only 2.72 total shots per 90 and 5.88 touches in the attacking penalty area per 90, demonstrating that his statistics over the previous 12 months aren’t on the same level as Kudus’.
The latter man was lauded as a “starboy” by former teammate Calvin Bassey while talent scout Jacek Kulig described him as having “electric pace” along with being “creative at his off-the-ball movements” and there is no doubt he is ready to shine in the Premier League.
The 23-year-old has also starred on the international stage for Ghana, scoring twice at the 2022 World Cup while his record in last season's Champions League was excellent.
Across six matches in Europe’s elite club competition, Kudus scored four goals, grabbed two assists, succeeded with 1.8 successful dribbles per game and made 0.8 key passes per game, showcasing his talents at the highest level.
Havertz on the other hand, scored just twice, succeeded with 1.2 successful dribbles and made 1.2 key passes per game, all while playing four games more than Kudus in the competition, indicating that the West Ham gem was much more efficient.
Arteta has clearly suffered a major transfer blunder by signing the German international as opposed to Kudus, especially judging by their respective statistics over the previous year.
Havertz may come good in the next few months, yet with Arsenal looking to challenge City for the league title once again while aiming to go deep in Europe, Arteta will be needing his star performers to reach a level which was seemingly beyond them last term.
If the former Chelsea starlet clicks into gear, he could be a solid signing, yet missing out on Kudus could well come back to haunt the club in the near future, especially if he continues his rich vein of form for the Irons this season.
