Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has relied upon Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus to lead his side’s attack this season.
Earlier this month, the Brazilian suffered a serious injury, and his setback has left Arteta currently with Havertz as the only striker in the squad.
The Germany international has scored 14 goals and registered four assists from 32 games this season.
Saturday’s edition of Marca has published a detailed interview they had with the Arsenal coach. They pointed out to Arteta that Havertz is ‘very good’, but he isn’t a ‘pure No.9’.
“[laughs] That with us sometimes he plays as a ‘9’; sometimes he plays inside…. And in the end, if you look at his numbers, you see that there are many ‘9’ that don’t generate what Kai generates in this Arsenal,” he said.
In the last two seasons, the Gunners finished second spot in the league behind eventual winners Manchester City. Arsenal had reduced the gap from five points to two last season.
This season, Arsenal are currently second in the league table and are six points behind leaders Liverpool. The Spanish newspaper asked the manager whether this Arsenal side can evolve further with a ‘pure No.9’.
Responding to that, Arteta explained: “I think it will depend on what players we have, because this year, for example, my idea did not match what I wanted to do if I had all the players healthy. Depending on who is there, I’ll see what I’ll do to get the best out of the team.”
Earlier this month, claims from the UK stated Real Sociedad star Martín Zubimendi is set to join Arsenal in the summer. The Spanish media quickly played down these claims.
Marca now specifically asked Arteta about the Zubimendi links, and he said: “At the end of the day, it’s normal to talk about good players related to our future planning to make a leap in quality. That said, I never talk about players from other teams. You know that.”
