Few players attract such contrasting reactions as Arsenal's Kai Havertz. To his fans, he is a highly-intelligent shapeshifter, capable of interpreting the centre-forward role in a unique way and allowing his team-mates to thrive. To his doubters, the £65 million ($82m) man is a donkey, with no amount of clever movement off the ball capable of papering over his unacceptable profligacy in front of goal.
While it's true that Havertz is capable of blowing hot and cold, even his harshest critics would have struggled not to stand up and applaud his match-winning exploits against Brighton this weekend. Not only did he find the back of the net - finishing off Jorginho's cutback superbly - to give the Gunners a much-needed two-goal cushion, he also helped put the game beyond all doubt by setting up Leandro Trossard for his side's third.
That capped off what was probably Havertz's best night in an Arsenal shirt yet, with manager Mikel Arteta keen to praise the German in his post-match press conference. "He’s certainly having a huge impact on the team,” Arteta said. “I think his overall performances have been really good and now his numbers in terms of goal contributions, are really, really high. He needs to maintain that level."
Having a chance to shower the German with positive words must be a nice change of pace for the Gunners head coach. Earlier in the season, Arteta scarcely faced the media without someone asking a negatively-framed question abut his summer signing.
Gripes included his startling lack of goals, Havertz not truly having a 'best' position and allegations that he was disrupting Gabriel Martinelli's output. Now though, the vast majority of these questions have been answered, which seemed rather unlikely when the German was at the lowest point of his slump.
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