Tottenham & Man U legend anoints his Arsenal heir-apparent…
It’s not often that an Arsenal player earns plaudits from rival players, even less so when the rival player played for two rivals. In this case, however, we have none other than Dimitar Berbatov lavishing praise on the much-lambasted Kai Havertz. Berbatov beguiled with his languid, almost effortless style; he rarely if ever seemed to exert himself, and yet, he was proflic and lethal. Without stating that Havertz is on that level, it is telling that the Bulgarian, on short notice, named Havertz as the player most similar to him in style.
The interviewer asked, Who is the current Premier League player that resembles your playstyle: calm, composed, and deadly?” Berbatov hemmed and hawed a bit, saying that he doesn’t like comparison, but he went on to say that the “the first name popping into my mind is Kai Havertz….not because I came from Leverkusen and he came from Leverkusen, but he has that way of moving around the pitch, you know, not necessarily in a way that he’s in a hurry; he’s watching, he’s studying; he’s taking his time. He has a good touch as well on the ball.”
We as fans are all too often culpable of looking for the next _______. How long have we at Arsenal been awaiting Vieira’s Heir, for example? (Don’t search my post history, thank you very much). However, it’s something altogether different when it’s the legend himself offering the comparison. For Berbatov, one of the silkiest and subltest footballers in recent memory to name Havertz, unprompted, as his apparent heir has to signify something. If Havertz were to achieve even half of what Berbatov achieved for Leverkusen, Tottenham, or Man U, there’d be no more talk of 60m down the drain (although that might necessitate a new chant for the lad…).
Like Berbatov, Havertz plays with a languid, almost effortless style that suggests a lack of intensity. Havertz has drawn similar comparisons to Mesut Özil. While Havertz may not possess the same vision or technical quality of either, the comparisons still merit consideration. If anything, the comparisons give him short shrift for his industry and tenacity.
Having essentially slotted into Granit Xhaka’s #6 role, Havertz has outpaced the Albanian, winning 7.2 duels per 90 compared to Xhaka’s 3.8 and winning 3.3 aerial duels per 90 compared to Xhaka’s 1.1. That’s an impressive rate of return, and I don’t mean to spoil Xhaka’s planned return to the Emirates by bringing it up. Havertz has been doing some serious donkey-work, the kind of stuff that Giroud used to do, and a lot of that’s gone under the radar. That’s not the kind of contribution that Berbatov or Özil ever made.
If Havertz can turn this recent purple-patch—the one that’s seen him score four goals in seven appearances totaling a grand total of 638 minutes—into something longer-term, he’ll make Berbatov into a seer or an oracle. I think we can all agree that Haverz has a long road to hoe before proving that he’s worth the transfer fee we paid not to mention the weekly wages we’re paying.
Tottenham & Man U legend anoints his Arsenal heir-apparent
Berbatov sees something in himself in Havertz. We’ve seen glimmers of what Havertz is capable of. Will those factors be enough to win over at least a few Gooners who continue to give Havertz stick in the service of a self-sabotaging agenda?
It may take a match-winning goal at Anfield to silence if not convert his critics. I would not be averse to that outcome. You?
