THE GUARDIAN
Arsenal have confirmed the signing of Kai Havertz from Chelsea. The deal for the Germany international is worth £65m and he should soon be joined at Arsenal by Declan Rice, who is close to sealing a £105m move from West Ham.
Havertz has played as a No 9 for Chelsea but wants to operate in a deeper role for Arsenal. He joined Chelsea from Bayer Leverkusen in 2020 and has 19 goals and seven assists from his 91 Premier League appearances.
Arsenal made a bid worth £105m for Rice on Tuesday night – a guaranteed £100m plus £5m in add-ons – and are in final discussions with West Ham over the payment structure after Manchester City withdrew from the race for the England midfielder. Arsenal are also close to sealing a £50m deal for the Ajax defender Jurriën Timber and want the Southampton midfielder Roméo Lavia.
“It’s super exciting for me to be joining this amazing club and to be part of the Arsenal family,” Havertz said. “This club has such a big history, and I hope we can achieve lots of things.
“The mentality in the Arsenal squad is very high and you can feel that. That was one of the reasons why it has been so hard to play against Arsenal recently.
“The aim is to win trophies and I’m going to give everything to do that for the supporters and everyone at the club. I’m now looking forward to meeting all the players and the staff when we come back for pre-season.”
Mikel Arteta was also determined to bring Havertz to north London and intends to use the German as a No 8. Havertz was identified as a key target at the start of the window and will hope that moving into a deeper role gives him a new lease of life.
The former Bayer Leverkusen player joined Chelsea three years ago and scored the goal that won them the Champions League in 2021. However Havertz has lacked consistency and has often had to fill in as a striker, which is not his favourite position.
Havertz scored 32 goals in 139 appearances for Chelsea and wants to play in a role that will allow him to use his creativity more. Bayern Munich and Real Madrid were also interested in the 23-year-old but he is happy in London and has jumped at the chance to move to Arsenal.
The departure of Havertz continues the squad restructure at Chelsea. Mateo Kovacic, Kalidou Koulibaly and Édouard Mendy have been sold, N’Golo Kanté has left and Chelsea have deals in place for the sales of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Hakim Ziyech. Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount, Romelu Lukaku, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Trevoh Chalobah and César Azpilicueta are among others who could depart.
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