Arsenal summer signing Kai Havertz has admitted he knew personally he was hitting the mark earlier in the season, but Mikel Arteta’s backing helped him to bounce back.
The forward has been speaking to Sky Germany about his time at Arsenal so far after moving to the Emirates in a €75m deal from Chelsea in the summer.
The move from Arsenal to get him, and for such a high price, was widely questioned at the time given Havertz had not enjoyed the most stellar time at Stamford Bridge, despite scoring the goal that won them the Champions League.
Those questions and doubts were only raised further as the season progressed and Havertz appeared to struggle to fit, failing to score or assist in his first six Premier League appearances and four in the Champions League.
He eventually scored from the spot in a 4-0 win over Bournemouth and then bagged the assist in the 1-0 win over Manchester City before again going five games without anything.
Things have turned a corner over the last month, though, as he’s bagged three goals in five games in the league and one in the 6-0 win over Lens in the Champions League to sit on five goals and one assist in 26 games this season.
Those are far healthier numbers than before, and he says the turnaround was only possible thanks to Arteta’s backing.
“Every footballer probably feels more comfortable on the pitch when everyone is praising him, everyone is shouting his name and everyone thinks he’s great,” he said.
“Of course, I also think that’s easier. But I now know that that’s not the reality Also. That you’re the hero one weekend, the idiot the next – I think we know that enough by now.
“Of course, it wasn’t my best time, I’ll be honest, and I can get a lot more out of myself. Of course, my self-confidence suffered a little bit from time to time.
“Nevertheless, I believe that I’m so strong now, that I can then work my way out of such depths. You can’t please everyone anyway. Sometimes they like you, sometimes they don’t like you – and I accept that. As long as the people who surround me are happy with me. That’s enough for me.
“It was made clear to me from the start that everyone was giving me the time to fit in well. And that just made me feel good. And even after two or three bad games, the coach came to me and said: ‘Hey, Everything is fine, soon something will click and then it will come.’ And then the moment came.”
