"He is starting to come good" - Pundit praises Arsenal star, says he'd 'rather have him than Gabriel Jesus' in his team
Football pundit and former Tottenham Hotspur forward Darren Bent has praised Arsenal midfielder Kai Havertz for his recent uptick in form.
Havertz is arguably in his best run of form since joining the Gunners from Chelsea for a reported fee of around £65 million (via Sky Sports). The German has scored four goals and assisted twice in his last four Premier League matches, having started three of those games as a false 9.
His most recent strike was an 89th-minute winner against Brentford over the weekend. Following that game, Bent, an Arsenal fan, has praised Havertz, stating that he would have the 24-year-old start upfront for the team rather than Gabriel Jesus. He said (as quoted by HITC):
“A lot of credit goes to Mikel Arteta. A lot of people questioned the decision to sign him for such big money, but he is coming good.
“You can see he is a good football player. It’s where you play him. I like him as a false nine. I would rather have him than Gabriel Jesus. He is better in that air than people give him credit for – fair play to him, he took a lot of criticism over the years, but he is starting to come good.”
With his strike against the Bees, Havertz has now netted eight goals in 27 Premier League matches for Mikel Arteta's side this term. That matches his best season at Chelsea (eight goals in 29 league games in 2021-22), with 11 matches still to go.
"You put him in a stable environment, he is a top, top player" - Darren Bent on Kai Havertz's revival at Arsenal
Darren Bent also believes the turbulent environment at Chelsea may have led to Kai Havertz's drop in form. The Blues notably underwent an ownership change in 2022 and ran through five managers (permanent and interim) across the 2022-23 season.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have stuck with Mikel Arteta since December 2019 despite some shaky initial results. Bent feels the stability at the Emirates Stadium has helped Havertz and said (as quoted by the aforementioned source):
“It’s also about being in a stable environment. Chelsea was a bit of a mess – towards the end it was a mess, you didn’t know who was in charge and what was going on.
“He has gone to Arsenal, which is stable, Mikel Arteta looks like he is going to be there for a long time. He probably feels a lot more relaxed in himself. He probably feels more settled and now he is starting to play with teammates that trust him as well.”
He concluded:
“At Chelsea, you just didn’t know. I felt he was getting criticised a lot. Maybe not even his own fault, but now at Arsenal, everyone seems to be buying into it. He has taken time to win the fans over, but now you can see, you put him in a stable environment, he is a top, top player.”