Chelsea star greenlights Arsenal move as insider hints ‘flexible’ Blues could lower asking price
Kai Havertz has reportedly greenlit a move to Arsenal, with Fabrizio Romano stating Chelsea could be “flexible” in removing the price tag barrier.
The Gunners haven’t been afraid to look outside the box for transfer targets of late. Indeed, after they missed out on both Mykhaylo Mudryk and Moises Caicedo in January, they snared Leandro Trossard and Jorginho.
Granted, Trossard seemed ready to make the step up and that was proven in his performances. However, the snare of a 31-year-old Jorginho was a left-field choice.
While the Gunners are interested in some of the league’s most coveted players – namely Declan Rice – they’ve also sprung some surprises.
Their interest in Chelsea man Havertz is certainly that, and there are a few reasons why. Indeed, four Arsenal players – three of which are attackers – scored more than 10 goals this season, while Havertz scored nine.
The Gunners will also likely have three strikers to choose from next season: Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah and Folarin Balogun.
That’s more choice than they had this season, and more quality, with Balogun coming off the back of a very good loan spell in Ligue 1.
However, while interest in Havertz is unexpected, they seem keen on moving for the Chelsea forward.
Havertz gives Chelsea move green light
Indeed, ‘positive talks’ have apparently gone on between the two clubs regarding a transfer for the striker. There is currently a snag in that the Gunners don’t want to pay the £75million Chelsea are asking for.
But there seem to be no such problems on the player’s side. A subsequent report has suggested the German has ‘agreed’ personal terms with the Emirates outfit.
While it’s not absolutely clear if that’s the case, transfer insider Romano states he’s ‘given the greenlight’ to the Gunners’ ‘contract bid’.
He also states personal terms are ‘no problem’ so if they’re not already signed, they may soon be.
The reason for the greenlight has been expanded on by journalist Dean Jones, who states the pull of working with Mikel Arteta as a major reason Havertz is keen.
“He does really like the idea of working with Arteta, if there are any issues at his end about what is going on at Arsenal, I’m sure it wouldn’t be difficult to get in touch with Jorginho and find out from him,” he said on The Football Terrace.
Chelsea prepared to lower fee
While Havertz is seemingly keen, there’s still the obstacle of the fee. That could be quite a big obstacle, given it’s apparently ‘significantly more’ than Arsenal want to pay.
Chelsea might be ready to remove the barrier between the Gunners and the snare of Havertz, though.
Indeed, Romano states the Blues ‘will be flexible’ on the fee. While there’s no suggestion of what exactly they would accept, at least it seems there’s a chance of the transfer going through.
