I get that, but I still don’t envisage him staying at West Ham beyond this Summer, even if he doesn’t join us. I think you will accept a bid from someone eventually.
Still don't really understand this one, especially at £65m Arteta obviously sees something in him that he feels will add to this team, so I guess we have to trust him on that. At the moment though, it looks like a massive gamble.
Was just saying the same thing on the PL board earlier. Havertz's best position is behind the striker, where Odegaard and Saka play. Odegaard and Saka are both better than Havertz, so while he would certainly beef up your squad and give you good cover against injuries, I dont see Arteta splashing out £65m on a second stringer, which means he plans to put him in your starting XI and I honestly dont see where he would fit, with your current options and the formation you play.
Ok, now this is a big problem. If Rice is open to joining City, this presents a massive issue for us.
Must admit my initial reaction to Havertz was WTF! However I am coming round to it having looked more into his role in the Leverkusen team and why it was that he was touted as a generational talent. He was playing CAM for most of his time there. If we've signed him to play alongside Odegaard in a left/right attacking mid formation, I am actually quite excited by the signing. Still a gamble because doing it in the Bundesliga is not the same as doing it in the PL, but if it comes off it could be a massive plus for us.
Think he'll play in Xhaka's role. ----------------------Ramsdale White--------Saliba-------Gabriel-------Zinchenko --------------Partey (or replacement) ------Odegaard-------------------Havertz Saka------------------Jesus--------------Martinelli It could be really beneficial to Martinelli too. Whilst I think Xhaka has been superb this year, he's not as adept and playing the ball through defenders to space for wide players.
But isnt that where Saka plays? Again, I dont particularly love Havertz, but am really baffled by this. Arsenals weak point at the moment is the centre of the park, controlling the play and find passes for your front three, Havertz doesnt offer this. I can understand why he wants Rice, but its unlike Arsenal to spend such a big sum on a luxury player when you have players in that role who are, lets be honest, better than Havertz. It pads your squad with more options I guess, but Arsenal dont usually spend £60m+ on squad options. City do, but not you guys
Ahh I see....thats a little further back than Havertz usually plays. If he has that in his locker and it works, then fair enough.
For Leverkusen he played mainly behind the strikers and that is where he made this name. It was only late at Leverkusen he was moved to a 9 and that was because their forwards were injured. He looks a shadow of the player he was. He needs to be more involved than playing up top. Here's is the breakdown of his positions played - Leverkusen on the left side of the picture, Chelsea on the right side of the picture. CAM is the role where I think we can really get something from him. It's not an exaggeration to say he was touted as one of Germany's brightest talents they ever had from that role. Whether he can reproduce his Leverkusen form in the PL is another question and there is rightly doubt, but if he does... £65m is going to seem very cheap. please log in to view this image
As I said in a previous post why are we such a bunch of amateurs in the way we conduct business in the transfer market thinking we are the only club in for these players. With Man City now interested in Rice they will probably pay the asking price and get him from under our pathetic noses. Never been impressed with Havertz at all but only time will tell on that one.
Let them have Rice if they are willing to overpay. I like the fact that we seem to have limits to what we will spend on a player. I simply don't think Rice is a step up on Partey at Partey's best. In fact I think it is a big downgrade. What Rice has is more consistency, but we're not going to get a better peak than Partey from him.
The problem is it looks like Partey is likely to leave this Summer - he has 3 Saudi clubs interested in him and Fabrizio Romano tweeted a few hours ago that Juventus are looking to sign him with Partey interested in the move too. Rice for me would be a transformational signing to our midfield. He's 24 so we're looking at a player who would be a first-team player for 7/8 years. He's a top quality player who has leadership skills that not many of our current squad have. If we don't get him, I don't know who we can get that will be as good or as impactful for us. I can't think of anyone.
I think there are better players out there. Amrabat looks like he might go for £25m with Liverpool mentioned and Tchouameni has been linked to Chelsea and Liverpool The latter might sound unlikely as Tchouameni seems eager to stay and a Liverpool bid has been turned down but Real have just signed Bellingham. I can't see Bellingham, Tchouameni and Camavinga all getting decent game time. Something has to give. I wonder whether a £100m bid for him would shake it loose.
I remember him at Leverkusen and he was one of Europe's hottest prospects. Said to Bobby on the PL board that when him and Werner went to Chelsea, I thought they would both tear it up, but it hasn't really happened. That could well be because Chelsea played him in a position that wasn't his best and like you say, I think Arteta will play him deeper as a creative midfielder. Havertz is very good at holding the ball up and then bringing other players into play, a bit like RVP did. If he can add the same finishing skills as RVP then we'll have an incredible player on our hands. But we'll see. I still think there's more to come from him, he's only 24 and Arteta is proving himself to be a very good coach
