Carragher tells £64m Arsenal man he’s ‘never’ getting back in as only ‘amazing’ transfer will displace workhorse
Jamie Carragher feels only “one of the the best players in the world” will displace an Arsenal star, as another Gunner has been told he’s “never” getting his place back.
The Premier League champions are again in the Premier League’s top two. Arsenal and Manchester City are familiarly at the summit of the table, with neither having dropped a point after three games.
Kai Havertz is among the Gunners to have made a great start to the season, with two goals already, coming against Coventry and Chelsea. The German has matched his goalscoring tally in the league from last season, when he missed a lot of football through injury, meaning £64million man Viktor Gyokeres often had no competition to play through the middle.
But last summer’s signing now does have heavy competition, and has only played 12 minutes in this season’s Premier League as a result.
Carragher feels Gyokeres will struggle to regain his spot after Havertz’s performances.
He said on Sky Sports: “To displace Havertz out this team, you’re talking about one of the best players in the world, that’s what you have to get.
“It has to be an Ian Wright, guaranteed 30 goals a season, Thierry Henry. Gyokeres is never taking Havertz’s place. Ever. Morgan Rogers I’m not sure [would have], as well.”
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Kai Havertz offers Arsenal something different
Carragher explained how Havertz offers more than just the attacking contribution that some strikers would.
“It’s not about how good they are just in attack, it’s what they give you for the team. One of the reasons why you can’t break Arsenal down as a team is how well they press from the front.
“But then when the opposition get through that, they all get behind the ball, and Havertz is about 25, 30 yards from his goal. You go and ask a world-class striker to do that, I guy who’s obsessed with his numbers and his goals to come back and do that, he won’t do that.
“When you see Havertz, what he does in terms of both boxes, set-piece wise as well. Havertz is more of a facilitator, he’s not a great goalscorer, can [Bukayo] Saka or the wide players get more goals the way [Mohamed] Salah and [Sadio] Mane used to with Bobby Firmino in that position.
“They’re not both great goalscorers, but they bring an awful lot to the team. And this idea that you’ve got to bring someone in who’s like, amazing, yes, I’m the one who’s said consistently, they haven’t got one of the best players in the world in the front four.
“But you better get someone at that level, at that unbelievable level, to take Havertz out of that team.
“Mikel Arteta, the type of manager that he is, taking Havertz out of that team and what he does for that team defensively, we talk about how strong they are defensively, no-one can get a shot on target, it’s not just the goalkeeper and the back four, that’s the whole team.
“So he’d be giving up on, actually, some of his team’s defensive solidity, to add a little bit more in the attack, that’s the decision every manager has to take.”
