Arsenal
Premier League • England
Saka snubbed as Arsenal star who can ‘do everything’ named Arteta’s ‘most important player’
Bukayo Saka has competition for the role of Mikel Arteta’s most crucial star at Arsenal, with a pundit heaping praise on forward Kai Havertz.
The Germany ace has had an electric start to the new season, having managed five goals and one assist in nine appearances across all competitions so far. That includes the opener during Arsenal’s Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, which the Gunners went on to win 2-0 in convincing fashion.
During an appearance on talkSPORT, former Tottenham Hotspur striker Darren Bent – who is an Arsenal fan – lauded Havertz amid his great performances.
“There’s an argument now that he’s Arsenal’s most important player – and that includes Saka,” the pundit said.
“He can play in a number of positions, as a No 9, a No8, he’s comfortable in possession.
“He scores goals, he’s brave, the most league goals he ever got for Chelsea in a season was eight and the most assists he got in a season was three.
“He got 13 [for Arsenal] last season, seven assists, he’s become vital, he’s just score three games on the bounce.
“He just looks a big physical presence. That’s what I like about him for Arsenal, where Arsenal try and play it out from the back, there’s time where the press is on, you can’t do it, but you can clip the ball to him, he takes it on his chest, he battles for it, he wins the header, he brings it down, he brings others into play.”
Bent added: “His ability is not limited to just scoring goals, he can do everything.”
Kai Havertz has proved doubters wrong
Arsenal raised eyebrows when they paid rivals Chelsea £65millon (€77.2m / US$85.3m) for Havertz in July 2023. While the attacker had scored the winning goal for Chelsea in a Champions League final, he never truly lived up to expectations at Stamford Bridge.
But Arteta saw the player Havertz could become and has helped the 25-year-old to develop into a top Premier League star.
As Bent states, Havertz is a focal point for Arsenal in attack, and he helps to make other players such as Saka and Martin Odegaard even better.
Havertz was generally viewed as a central attacking midfielder previously in his career, but he has usurped Gabriel Jesus and is now Arteta’s main No 9.
Arsenal are expected to sign a centre-forward next year, with Lille’s Jonathan David on their wish list, but Havertz should still play on a regular basis even if a new striker joins the club.
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Arsenal news: PSG link shut down; defender exit
Meanwhile, Fabrizio Romano has ended speculation that Arsenal defender William Saliba might head to Paris Saint-Germain in the near future.
PSG have been linked with Saliba on several occasions as they pursue the best French talent, but Romano is having none of it.
“Although William Saliba will always be appreciated because of his immense talent, there’s nothing in a rumour that Paris Saint-Germain could make a big offer for his services at this stage,” he said.
“There has been no approach from PSG, no proposal, no talks.
“Saliba is a crucial player for Arsenal so I don’t think there could be anything for Saliba to even consider soon.
“He’s very happy at Arsenal and there’s nothing ongoing with any club – no idea where these PSG stories are coming from.”
While Saliba looks set to stay put, fellow defender Jakub Kiwior is being tipped to move on. As per TBR Football, Kiwior is ‘expected’ to leave Arsenal in 2025 in search of regular game time.
The frontrunners for the 24-year-old’s services have yet to be revealed, though he has been backed to return to Serie A on numerous occasions.
The report states that Arsenal will push to sell both Kiwior and Kieran Tierney so they can overhaul their options at left-back.
In terms of transfer targets, Miguel Gutierrez (Girona), Cristhian Mosquera (Valencia), Nathan Zeze (Nantes) and Vitor Reis (Palmeiras) are all being watched by Arsenal officials.