Arsenal complete £65million signing of Kai Havertz from Chelsea in unspecified long term deal
Arsenal have completed £65million signing of Chelsea forward Kai Havertz in unspecified long term deal to become Mikel Arteta’s first signing of the summer.
The German International’s move is unsurprising having been linked with a transfer to the Emirates Stadium all summer.
There was a perfect condition to strike a deal, and while Chelsea were willing to sell Havertz, the German was also ready to join Mikel Arteta’s men.
Chelsea signed Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen in 2020 for £75m but were looking to recoup a substantial portion of what they paid after an indifferent last campaign at Stamford Bridge.
Havertz spent three seasons at Chelsea and had two years left on his contract but had decided to ‘leave Stamford Bridge’, Chelsea said in a statement.
Arsenal boss Arteta has already outlined the position he will use Kai Havertz which is different from the role of the former Bayer Leverkusen forward at Chelsea.
“Kai is a player of top quality,” he said. “He has great versatility and is an intelligent player. He will bring a huge amount of extra strength to our midfield and variety to our play.
“We welcome Kai and his family to Arsenal Football Club and we are all excited to start working with him when we start pre-season training soon.”
Chelsea paid tribute to their Champions League winner in their own statement, saying his name had been “etched into club folklore” and that he would “forever have a place in our history”.
Also speaking to Arsenal.com after completing his move, Havertz paid tribute to the squad mentality of his new side and highlighted where he thought the Gunners had strengthened when facing them as an opponent during his time at Chelsea.
The Gunners won both league meetings between the two sides last season, and beat the Blues five out of six times since Havertz moved to Stamford Bridge in 2020.
“It’s super exciting for me to be joining this amazing club and to be part of the Arsenal family,” he said. “This club has such a big history, and I hope we can achieve lots of things.
“The mentality in the Arsenal squad is very high and you can feel that. That was one of the reasons why it has been so hard to play against Arsenal recently.
“The aim is to win trophies and I’m going to give everything to do that for the supporters and everyone at the club. I’m now looking forward to meeting all the players and the staff when we come back for pre-season.”
Kai Havertz scored the winner against Man City that gave Chelsea their second Champions League title in 2021. The 24-year old went on to score Chelsea’s winning goal in FIFA Club World Cup final against Brazilian outfit Palmeiras as Chelsea won the title first time in their history.
Arsenal are also closing in on a deal for West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice after agreeing £105million with The Hammers.
