Real Madrid ‘delighted’ to have ‘dodged bullet’ over Arsenal star after ‘very little contribution’ | OneFootball

Kai Havertz during a Champions League match.

Real Madrid are happy to have missed out on Arsenal summer signing Kai Havertz after his start to the new Premier League season, according to reports.

Mikel Arteta and Gunners technical director Edu spent £65m of the club’s summer transfer budget on the Germany international, who scored seven Premier League goals for Chelsea last season.

He never lived up to the expectations of his €85m move from Bayer Leverkusen back in 2020 but the Blues fans will always remember him for scoring the winning goal in the 2021 Champions League final.

Real Madrid were also reportedly keen on buying Havertz in the summer but the German international chose to stay in the Premier League with Arsenal.

And now Spanish publication AS (via Sport Witness) insist that a ‘delighted’ Real Madrid now see it as a ‘bullet dodged’ with Havertz having an underwhelming start to the season at Arsenal.

They say the Arsenal attacking midfielder is ‘the bullet that Madrid dodged’ and that they viewed the £65m fee for Havertz as a ‘very high figure’ for the 24-year-old.

Havertz is yet to contribute a goal or an assist for Arsenal since joining in the summer and AS pick out ‘very little contribution’ this campaign as a reason for Real Madrid’s pleasure, as the fee the Gunners paid ‘already seems like a lot’.

Arsenal supporters don’t want Havertz in the side as it stands.

“He wasn’t good enough, that’s why they got rid of him,” Robson said on ESPN.

“You can’t keep defending players that go to the Premier League from the Bundesliga because you want to say that the Bundesliga is such a great league. He hasn’t been good enough for Chelsea and he hasn’t been good enough for Arsenal. You are trying to say Havertz was good enough for Chelsea, he wasn’t. That’s why they sold him.

“He has gone to Arsenal and the Arsenal fans don’t want him in the side. They are booing him, at the moment. They don’t want him in the team. They can’t understand why Arteta is playing the system that he is playing to fit Havertz into it. He is struggling at Arsenal, at the moment.”

Havertz delivered a more involved display against PSV Eindhoven during the week and Arsenal boss Arteta reckons it’s only a matter before he becomes a success.

“Yeah, he was really connected today in the game,” Arteta said.

“It’s true I asked him to play two different roles in regards to the behaviours of the opponents and he’s so intelligent that he does it. It’s just finishing one or two actions that we had but it’s coming and he’s so willing to do it.”