Arsenal have confirmed the signing of Kai Havertz from Chelsea for a fee of £65million.
The Athletic reported last week that the north London club had agreed a deal in principle for the forward, who underwent a medical over the weekend.
Arsenal are set to pay an initial £62m for the German international with a further £3m in add-ons.
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Havertz has signed a five-year deal to keep him at the club until 2028.
“The mentality in the Arsenal squad is very high and you can feel that,” said Havertz. “That was one of the reasons why it has been so hard to play against Arsenal recently.
“The aim is to win trophies and I’m going to give everything to do that for the supporters and everyone at the club. I’m now looking forward to meeting all the players and the staff when we come back for pre-season.”
Arsenal have long been admirers of Havertz and first scouted him even before he made his Bundesliga debut for Bayer Leverkusen aged 17. Since joining Chelsea from Leverkusen three years ago in a deal worth up to £90million ($113.8m), he has made 139 appearances for the club, scoring 32 goals and providing 15 assists.
Last season, Havertz predominantly operated as a striker for Chelsea and scored nine goals in 47 appearances across all competitions.
We keep moving forward.
Kai Havertz is a Gunner ❤️ pic.twitter.com/76j5BStw9e
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) June 28, 2023
“Kai is a player of top quality,” added Mikel Arteta. “He has great versatility and is an intelligent player. He will bring a huge amount of extra strength to our midfield and variety to our play.”
As well as Havertz, Arsenal are working on a deal to sign West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice — and agreed a fee worth £105million on Wednesday.
Follow the summer transfer window with The Athletic…
‘He can play several roles for Arsenal’
Analysis by Arsenal correspondent Jordan Campbell
The immediate thought is that it feels like a good fit. The stylish way he glides with the ball, the physical profile, the age. That all adds up, apart from one thing: where would he play?
Arsenal see Havertz as a quality player who can play several roles within their system and who offers different attributes to their existing forwards.
He would also continue the club’s strategy of future-proofing the squad as he only just turned 24.
‘His technical level is really high’
Analysis by Chelsea correspondent Liam Twomey
Havertz has been miscast for such long stretches of his Chelsea career in dysfunctional attacking systems that the possibility of him scaling new heights at his next club cannot be discounted.
Even the current version of Havertz does a lot of things that elite clubs value. His technical level is really high, he has great instincts for finding pockets of space to receive and advance the ball, he is tactically responsible and he presses like a demon.
A fresh start and a change of scenery — even if it is only a move across London — could really be all he needs.
(Photo: Getty Images)