What are Arsenal thinking?! Chelsea flop Kai Havertz is not good enough for Mikel Arteta's attack

A small section of supporters called for caution, arguing that Mikel Arteta has clearly seen something in Havertz that many others have not. Others were outraged, though, wondering what on earth Arsenal are doing even entertaining the idea of signing a player who has scored just 19 times in 91 Premier League appearances. The one thing that united the fanbase was a sense of shock, though, because nobody saw this coming, and it's easy to understand why.

Arsenal's brave bid to dethrone Manchester City as the champions of England didn't collapse because of a lack of an attacking threat from midfield or out wide. They scored 88 goals last season - just six fewer than Erling Haaland & Co.

No, Arsenal were ultimately punished for their defensive deficiencies, which were brutally exposed following William Saliba's season-ending injury. The Frenchman's absence, coupled with the mental and physical fatigue caused by trying to fend off City, resulted in costly draws and losses down the home stretch.

So, Arsenal's determination to sign a centre-back and a right-back this summer makes perfect sense. As does their interest in a winger to provide back-up for Bukayo Saka, who tired during the closing stages of the 2022-23 campaign, a replacement for Granit Xhaka and a top-class defensive midfielder to provide the back four with great protection.

The hope is that the latter role will be filled by Declan Rice. Given the England international is held in the highest esteem, not only at West Ham, but also in Manchester, Arsenal are likely to have to pay around £100m ($128m) for the 24-year-old. Is Rice really worth such a fee? Maybe not, but he would be to Arsenal - and that's all that matters at the end of the day.

However, given it's going to take a colossal amount of cash to make that transfer happen, Arsenal's willingness to pay even £50m ($64m) - their opening bid - for Havertz is utterly baffling. The Gunners are not backed by a Gulf state, meaning that the eventual fee that they will pay for a player who would not walk straight into Arteta's starting line up is astronomical.

Indeed, the question has to be asked as to whether Havertz is as good as any other attacker that Arsenal presently have at their disposal. How much would he actually add to this team? Emile Smith Rowe couldn't get in the side last season - would Havertz fare any better?

There is no doubting Havertz's potential. It's been obvious since he broke into the Leverkusen line-up at 17 and began breaking one club record after another. There was huge and wholly justified excitement surrounding a kid that missed the second leg of a Champions League last-16 tie with Atletico Madrid because he had to sit a school exam.

Lothar Matthaus, arguably the most complete midfielder in football history, called Havertz the most talented player to emerge in Germany for decades, even going so far as to compare him to the great Zinedine Zidane.

"He has set the bar very high - for me he was the player of the [2018-19] season," Matthaus told kicker magazine. "If Havertz can maintain this high standard, with his natural talent, cleverness, presence on the pitch, and goal threat, then he could someday follow me as world footballer of the year."

Five years on, though, he looks nothing like a Ballon d'Or winner.

There was a brief spell in March and April of last year when it appeared as if Thomas Tuchel may have successfully unlocked Havertz. He netted five goals in five Premier League games, and also scored against Real Madrid in the Champions League. Carlo Ancelotti was certainly impressed, as he asked Florentino Perez to try to sign Havertz last summer.

Talk of a transfer to Santiago Bernabeu resurfaced following Karim Benzema's shock exit, but it is believed that Madrid were put off by Chelsea's asking price - and Arsenal should be too.

Six months ago, the Gunners dodged a bullet when Chelsea hijacked their deal for Mykhailo Mudryk, forcing them to instead sign Leandro Trossard for less than half the price. The Belgian made a significant contribution almost every time he set foot on the field during the second half of the season, while Mudryk is looking like Todd Boehly's biggest waste of money to date - which is really saying something.

Arsenal, then, should have extremely wary of paying anything remotely close to Chelsea's reported £75m ($96m) asking price for Havertz, who certainly wouldn't be a better option up front than Trossard. Indeed, the latter was involved in 20 Premier League goals last season. Havertz scored seven, and racked up just one assist - which makes a mockery of the belief that he is the kind of multi-functional forward that is as adept at creating goals as he is scoring them.

His finishing is particularly poor. Havertz's shot conversion rate in 2022-23 was a dismal 9.86 percent, while his 'Big Chance' conversion was just 22% - an embarrassing figure when compared to those of Saka (70%), Gabriel Martinelli (62.5%) and Martin Odegaard (55.6%).

There is, of course, the argument that he would perform better in a stronger side - and Arsenal are most certainly a better side than Chelsea. But the Gunners shouldn't be spending such a big chunk of their summer budget to find out.

Havertz will not be a guaranteed starter at the Emirates. He would not be a better option to lead the line than Gabriel Jesus, nor would he come close to usurping Odegaard, Martinelli or Saka in one of the supporting roles. He would be a useful bench player at best. But one that Arsenal don't really need right now.

The Gunners clearly require strengthening this summer, but they simply cannot justify forking out millions to sign Havertz when that money would very obviously be better spent elsewhere. The mere fact that Chelsea are willing to let him go is telling.

An attacker that occasionally appears as if he can do everything, too often does nothing at all. In that sense, Townsend isn’t alone. It really is difficult to 'quite get' Kai Havertz - and Arsenal' signing him is even more so.