Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta ‘likes’ Kai Havertz and thinks it won’t be long before he justifies the £65m price tag

Mikel Arteta has told Arsenal fans they could achieve Martin Odegaard-like results if they offered the same support to Kai Havertz.

The Gunners boss offered a fierce defense of his £65m signing, which has yet to really kick off following his move from Chelsea.

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Havertz is yet to register a goal or assist in four competitive appearances, despite playing 323 of a possible 360 ​​minutes in the Premier League and Community Shield.

A poor finish in front of goal didn’t help the German either, but Arteta is pleased with his off-score contributions.

Speaking to the media ahead of Sunday’s clash against Manchester United, the Spaniard said: “I’ll tell you how I feel about him, that I love him and see his quality every day in training.

“His work rate is great, a lot of things he does in front of the team are so good, especially visual.

“The one with the stats is what’s missing right now, to get the ball in the net and get on those and have a different impact on the game, but for the rest he’s there.”

Arteta is confident the goals and assists will come for Havertz, but he’s identified one factor that will help.

Recalling many examples of successful signings at the Emirates after the early struggles of his tenure, Arteta made a rather convincing argument that Havertz could join the roster.

He continued: “It’s hard to ask for more, especially from our people in our stadium and our supporters, but my feeling is to give him love and we will get the best out of him.

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“Like with any other player, and I think we have some really, really, really great examples with players that we’ve given a lot of support and love and they felt it and just exploded.

“Lots of good examples so I’ll just stick with that because not everyone will want Arsenal to succeed but those who really want the best for the club with their hearts and souls let’s do it because he has a lot to offer us.”

When a journalist in the room cited captain Martin Odegaard as the perfect example of a player who overcame a difficult few months, Arteta was keen to elaborate on that point.

“More, more than two months,” he interjected. “And with Gabriel Magalhaes, it was the same.

“And Ben White who ‘couldn’t play as a full-back’, Aaron Ramsdale was ‘not good enough’ and now you’re bringing in another goalkeeper and it’s ‘a disaster’ but Aaron Ramsdale doesn’t wasn’t good enough for Arsenal?

“Bukayo Saka was a left-back, huh? And now he plays on the right wing. Granit Xhaka…so we have so many examples, great examples, but players have to love what they do, and I think they love what they do more when they’re supported.

A sticking point for Havertz has really been his position, he is often relied upon as a centre-forward at Chelsea.

That wasn’t the case at Bayer Leverkusen, where he produced his best performances and goal returns, and it seems likely that won’t be the case at Arsenal either.

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When asked if the 24-year-old’s best position was on the left of a three-man midfield, Arteta replied: “Yes. Or. We will see, because things will change and you will find chemistry.

“Granit, if he hadn’t played with Alex (Zinchenko), maybe he would have been different.

“But something was there, but that chemistry was built not just on the pitch but off it and that helped the whole thing, all the fluidity.

“If you bring Fabio (Vieira) and (Gabriel) Martinelli together, something good is going to happen because they’re like brothers, and it’s not something that’s not in the tactic, not in the training.

“We are talking about a player of his age who has already won a lot. And that’s been three Premier League games. Calm down (calm down).

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