Mikel Arteta eyes dream Arsenal partnership and hopes Kai Havertz follows Martin Odegaard

Mikel Arteta hopes Kai Havertz can form a new dream partnership whilst following in the footsteps of Martin Odegaard.

Havertz sealed a £65m switch from Chelsea on Wednesday after a three-year spell at Stamford Bridge.

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The Germany international signed a five-year contract at the Emirates Stadium to become the Gunners’ first major signing of the summer.

Boss Arteta praised Havertz’s mentality and ability to cope with high expectations following his high profile breakthrough at Bayer Leverkusen and goal scoring exploits in Chelsea’s Champions League final win over Manchester City in 2021.

Arteta also see Havertz’s age as a huge benefactor as he aims to trim the age of his squad with Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka set to move on this summer.

The Gunners boss is not ruling out utilising Havertz in a deeper midfield position, possibly forming one half of a new-look centre midfield partnership, with Declan Rice close to sealing a switch.

“Kai is a player of top quality,” Arteta said.

“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.

“We welcome Kai and his family to Arsenal Football Club and we are all excited to start working with him when we start pre-season training soon.”

It is thought Arteta also believes Havertz’s development could reap the same rewards as skipper Martin Odegaard who has benefited from the Spaniard’s tutelage.

Havertz expressed his excitement at signing for Arsenal and promised to give everything to help the club win honours.

“It’s super exciting for me to be joining this amazing club and to be part of the Arsenal family,” Havertz said.

“This club has such a big history, and I hope we can achieve lots of things.

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‌“The mentality in the Arsenal squad is very high and you can feel that. 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.”