"He is now undroppable" - Richard Keys heaps praise on Arsenal star for his performances this season
Richard Keys has hailed Arsenal star Kai Havertz for his impressive start to the season. The commentator and presenter suggested that the German forward has quashed any doubts over his move to the Emirates and has become a key player for the Gunners.
In his weekly column, he wrote (via TBR Football):
“Kai Havertz scored for the seventh consecutive home game v Saints.”
“A year ago we were all scratching our heads wondering why Arsenal had paid £65m for him. I’m sure I’d have had something to say, but fair play to Mikel Arteta. Havertz is now undroppable.”
Eyebrows were raised when Arsenal paid a reported £65 million to sign Havertz from cross-town rivals Chelsea. He had endured three difficult seasons with the Blues, collecting just 32 goals.
After a slow start with the Gunners, he has slowly established himself as a vital player for Mikel Arteta. He collected 14 goals and seven assists across all competitions last season.
Havertz has taken his performances up a notch this season, bagging six goals and an assist in 10 games. With his equaliser against Southampton in Arsenal's 3-1 win over the Saints, he has now scored in seven straight home games.
Premier League legend claims Arsenal made a mistake in selling star goalkeeper
Former Premier League goalkeeper David James believes that Arsenal should have not sold Emiliano Martinez. James stated that the Argentinian is one of the top keepers in the league, pointing to his big-game capabilities.
James said (via the Seaman Says podcast):
"It’s interesting when you look at Premier League goalkeepers over a number of years now, there’s not many characters. Prior to that there were more characters for whatever reason."
"He [Emiliano Martinez] has character, everything about him is character, he’s a big-game player. He wants to be in the biggest games."
"When you look at the Raya and Ramsdale situation at Arsenal and obviously Martinez was allowed to go because of Bernd Leno, who’s a decent goalkeeper."
"But I think Martinez would have been the perfect goalkeeper for Arsenal right now. I think he’s a monster. Weirdly there’s not a lot of goalkeepers in the Premier League these days who are capable of getting to the top corner."
With just 38 appearances over 10 years for the Gunners, Martinez eventually left and joined Aston Villa in 2020 for a reported fee of £17 million. He has since won the World Cup with La Albiceleste and has been a key force behind Villa's rise to the Champions League.
Arsenal, meanwhile, had Bernd Leno and Aaron Ramsdale as their number one options between the sticks. Eventually, they settled on David Raya, who joined on loan last season and completed a permanent move this summer.