Try as they might, Arsenal were unable to bolster their forward line over the summer. Before a ball was kicked, it was something supporters thought may hold them back this term.
This is such a complete team. The Gunners have the best defence in Europe. They arguably have the best midfield in the Premier League too. All that’s missing is that truly world-class forward to take them to the next level.
Julian Alvarez was the player Arsenal spent most of the summer courting but he wasn’t up for another adventure to English shores. The Argentine wanted Barcelona but a move did not materialise. He ultimately stayed put at Atletico Madrid.
As a result, Kai Havertz‘s importance has been elevated.
How Kai Havertz has become Arsenal’s leading marksman
A year ago it looked as though Arsenal were done with fielding Havertz as a centre-forward.
In a bid too boost their potency in the final third, Andrea Berta clinched a deal for Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP. During his final campaign in Lisbon, the striker had scored 54 goals in 52 games. He was one of the most prolific players around.
Replicating that sort of number in the Premier League was never going to happen; fans had to be realistic. He still scored 21 times in 2025/26 and proved pivotal as Arsenal won a first league crown in 22 years. No player at the club scored more than him in all competitions or in the league.
So, he hasn’t been a disastrous signing but it’s not been a good one. The fact Havertz is now leading the line substantiates that point.
At the end of 2024/25, they looked to ensure that they didn’t need to rely on the German anymore so they are well and truly back at square one.
That said, the former Chelsea man is doing an admirable job. Mikel Arteta loves his tireless work rate, he loves the way he brings others into play and he love the way he turns up in the games.
He has been preferred over Gyokeres in some big moments, starting the League Cup and Champions League finals, as well as starting in the Community Shield. It’s deserved too.
This season, Havertz has already scored three times in six outings and ranks as one of the hardest working players in the whole Premier League. No striker has run further per 90 minutes this season than the 27-year-old. He sits first for kilometers run with 11.5 km. Meanwhile, only Ipswich’s Daizen Maeda and Sunderland’s Wilson Isidor have managed more sprints per 90 than Havertz who has averaged 17.6.
All that said, he’s still not the most clinical of players. How Arsenal must wish they could call upon the services of one of the game’s biggest stars.
Arsenal let a Havertz upgrade leave as a boy
Every club has a story of how they let a player leave their academy too soon. Arsenal have benefitted from that with Declan Rice. He is one of a number of players that Chelsea had on their books as kids. That list includes Michael Olise and Jamal Musiala.
For the Gunners, they also had Olise in their academy as a boy, while Eberechi Eze was seen as one who got away before he re-joined in the summer of 2025.
The most famous example, however, is that of Harry Kane. You will have all seen the photo by now; the image of Kane as a boy wearing an Arsenal top while celebrating Arsenal’s 2003/04 title win.
Yes, he used to be in the club’s academy but was let go as a child. Why? Well, Kane shed some light on the story in the past.
At the age of nine, the Gunners told him to search for a new club and as the tale goes, he was allegedly too small. “It’s hard to tell at that age what the player is going to turn into. I was only small at that age. I was small for my age. I was a late developer. After that I went to Spurs when I was 11. It wasn’t like it took off straight from then, I still had to work hard. There were highs and lows along the way.”
Well, how Arsenal must regret this one, particularly as he is now Tottenham’s all-time record goalscorer with 280 goals to his name. He also has a mighty fine record against the Gunners, bagging 15 times in 22 appearances. He has only actually lost six of those matches too.
|
Kane vs Havertz: Last five seasons |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Kane goals |
Havertz goals |
|
2021/22 |
25 |
14 |
|
2022/23 |
32 |
9 |
|
2023/24 |
44 |
14 |
|
2024/25 |
38 |
15 |
|
2025/26 |
61 |
7 |
|
Total |
200 |
59 |
However, it is since moving to Bayern that he has really become one of the game’s global stars. While Havertz has never scored more than 20 goals in a single season, Kane has obliterated that record, notably in recent years.
After heading to Germany, he has a staggering haul of 150 goals in 153 outings for the Bundesliga giants. It’s an absurd record and one that has put him among the favourites to win the 2026 Ballon d’Or award.
He may be 33 now and valued at £72m, down from the £86m Bayern paid, but he is “the best player in the world” in the words of journalist Daniel Storey, and he beat the goalkeeper on 61 occasions last season. In 2026/27, he already has four in six. This is one of the greatest strikers we have ever seen in the history of the game.
Since the turn of the decade, only two players, Robert Lewandowski with 193 and Kylian Mbappe with 191 have scored more goals in Europe’s top five leagues than Kane who is sat on 187.
So, while Arsenal crave the services of a truly elite striker, they will no doubt regret the decision to forget about Kane when he was still a schoolboy.