He’s much better than Havertz: Arsenal submits £86m bid for new striker

When Kai Havertz scored simply six minutes into the Champions League remaining to present Arsenal the lead, it felt prefer it was meant to be this season.

For an hour, the Gunners seemed like European winners. Six days after the beginning of the Premier League, a brand new trophy was on the horizon.

Properly, that was till Hviča Kvaratscheria did his magic and scored a penalty, permitting Ousmane Dembélé to attain.

It was a match that may perpetually be remembered for penalties, however not for Dembele. Arsenal’s goals ended when Gabriel fired excessive into the group for the decisive penalty within the shootout.

Anyway, what a season this 12 months has been. They proceed to attend for the Champions League title, however for the primary time in 22 years they’ll name themselves champions of England.

That is extremely thrilling because the Gunners head right into a switch window the place they’ll capitalize on their good kind and make one other huge splash.

Arsenal bid for brand new striker

Talking after the ultimate, Mikel Arteta was understandably distraught by the occasions in Budapest, however there was one factor he mentioned that notably stood out.

“If we wish to get to a different degree, we are going to begin making some crucial choices and we should show that ambition. We’re greater than able to doing that, however we are going to have to be very bold, very fast and really sensible,” he informed reporters.

There may be nothing mysterious about this. Arteta needs to take a position as a lot as doable to bridge the hole with PSG in Europe.

Arsenal have already overcome the problem of Manchester Metropolis at home degree, however the two-time champions misplaced simply twice in continental competitors final 12 months.

So how can we enhance it? Properly, a brand new striker will definitely assist.

Reviews in current weeks have outlined the membership’s curiosity in Atlético Madrid striker Julián Álvarez, and so they now seem like intensifying their curiosity in signing the Argentine.

Argentine journalist Veronica Brunati reported this weekend that Arsenal have already submitted an preliminary bid to Atleti price £86 million plus one participant.

Nevertheless, it’s unlikely that it is going to be accepted. Atleti have revealed they need a switch payment better than the £104 million they paid once they offered Antoine Griezmann, amid rising curiosity from Barcelona, ​​who’re mentioned to be Alvarez’s precedence.

Comparability of Julian Alvarez and Kai Havertz

Arteta had an enormous resolution to make forward of Saturday’s remaining, and that was deciding who would begin as striker.

Viktor Gökeres completed the season as Arsenal’s high scorer with 21 targets in all competitions, however the Swede didn’t begin. In his place got here Havertz, the person worthy of this momentous event.

The German was the one scorer when Chelsea received the ultimate in 2021, and Arteta’s resolution was vindicated after simply six minutes when Havertz swung previous PSG’s final line and fired excessive into the roof of the objective to present Arsenal the lead.

Nevertheless, Havertz will not be a ruthless centre-forward. Gokeres surpasses him by way of scoring skill. The previous is best in the case of build-up play.

That makes each of them helpful to the crew. Having two fully completely different choices will permit Arsenal to place collectively completely different plans for his or her ahead line-up.

But when Arteta’s aspect are to achieve the following degree, they’ll want an elite quantity 9. That is the place Alvarez comes into play.

As soon as hailed as “the very best centre-forward on the earth” by South American journalist Roy Nemer, he could have been surpassed by the likes of Harry Kane since then, however he stays, within the phrases of Argentine journalist Pablo Gonzalez, “a monster”.

In his debut season with Atleti in 2024/25, he scored 29 targets. This season he scored 20 targets. To place these numbers into context, they’re higher than Havertz has achieved all season to this point.

His highest rating for Arsenal was 15 targets final season, whereas his profession finest got here within the 2018/19 season with Leverkusen, when he scored 20 targets in 42 video games.

However what actually separates Alvarez from the strikers already at Arsenal is his general play. One thing like Alexis Sanchez, this can be a participant who will develop as a false No. 9 participant.

The 26-year-old loves to attain targets, however he is additionally a fantastic creator. He has offered 10 assists in all competitions this season, and 13 in his remaining season at Manchester Metropolis.

One of many causes Arteta favors Havertz over Gokeres in vital conditions this season is due to his mixture play. The ball sticks to him extra recurrently and his link-up play is nice. However Alvarez is best in that regard.

The World Cup winner ranks inside the high 9% of strikers in Europe’s high 5 leagues as an anticipated risk within the build-up part of play. Gökeres ranks within the worst 20% and Havertz ranks within the high 50%.

Anticipated risk (xT) is a metric that measures how a lot a participant’s actions, equivalent to passing or carrying the ball, improve the crew’s probabilities of scoring on the instantly following play sequence.

Alvarez is used as extra of an out-and-out striker within the Spanish capital, however can be nicely used to dropping deep and could be a really perfect improve to Arsenal’s present ahead choices.

After a season wherein we received the league and completed runners-up within the Champions League remaining, now will not be the time to face nonetheless. Josh Kroenke and co must get huge once more to essentially regain the momentum they’ve constructed over the previous few years.