da luck： The Gunners boss has gone to great lengths to accommodate the £65 million man, disrupting the team's overall balance in the process

da prosport bet： This time last season, Arsenal had already announced themselves as potential title contenders – seeing off Crystal Palace, Leicester City and Bournemouth in their opening three games with nine goals scored and only two conceded.

The Gunners would go on to complete their best-ever start to a Premier League season and stay on top of the table for 248 days, only to surrender the trophy to Manchester City down the finishing stretch. Mikel Arteta's side were unstoppable for much of the campaign, and came up short due to a lack of experience more than anything else.

The Spaniard addressed that by making three huge summer signings, starting with Champions League winner Kai Havertz. Arsenal paid £65 million ($82m) to sign the Germany forward from Chelsea, despite the fact he only managed to score nine goals across all competitions in 2022-23.

Subsequent deals for Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber, which took Arsenal's spending past the £200m ($252m) mark, made perfect sense. Arteta's side needed a combative all-rounder of Rice's class in the middle of the park, and Timber was an excellent addition to bolster the defence.

But it wasn't immediately clear why Havertz was brought in. The 24-year-old played in several positions at Chelsea after joining the club from Bayer Leverkusen in September 2020, without ever really justifying his £72m ($90m) price tag.

And just three games into the new season, Arsenal are looking like a weaker team with Havertz forced into the starting XI in place of Granit Xhaka – who departed for Bayer Leverkusen in July. After failing to impress in unconvincing wins over Nottingham Forest and Palace, Havertz was hooked after just 54 minutes as the Gunners limped to a 2-2 draw against Fulham at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Arteta clearly has a vision for Havertz, who does have plenty to offer Arsenal if used in the right way. But if he remains in his current role, they won't have any chance of knocking City off their perch.

(C)Getty ImagesGuardiola's disciple

Arteta honed his coaching skills while working as Pep Guardiola's assistant at City between 2016 and 2019, and learned exactly what it takes to build an successful squad.

Guardiola is rightly revered as the best manager in European football, not least because of how many players he has been able to mould into world-class operators. Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and John Stones are among those who have taken their game to new heights after linking up with Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium. All three men faced criticism in the earlier stages of their careers, but unlocked their full potential under the tutelage of the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss while playing in a number of different roles.

Guardiola has never been afraid to experiment. He constantly tweaks his formation and often asks his players to adapt to unnatural positions. Arteta witnessed the benefits of that approach up close, and has followed a similar blueprint at Arsenal. He tried Bukayo Saka at left-back in the early stages of his reign, before transforming Xhaka from an unspectacular defensive midfielder to an all-action No.8.

Replacing the Swiss international was always going to be a tough task, though, and Arteta took another leaf out of Guardiola's book by targeting Havertz instead of a player better suited to the position. He was wrong to take such a huge gamble.

Havertz has not looked comfortable on the left of Arsenal's midfield three, and his presence there has unbalanced the team. Arteta is trying too hard to be like Guardiola instead of sticking to the principles that helped the Gunners re-emerge as a formidable force after so many years of mediocrity.

AdvertisementGettyDefensive chaos

Havertz is not the only one playing out of position at Arsenal right now. In order to accommodate the former Chelsea star, Arteta has completely reshuffled his defensive line – with mixed results.

Thomas Partey, who shone for the Gunners in the heart of their midfield last season, has been moved to right-back, while Oleksandr Zinchenko has fallen behind Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu in the squad pecking order due to his recent struggles for fitness. William Saliba formed a rock solid partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes at centre-back after returning from a loan spell at Marseille, but the Brazilian has now been dropped for Ben White. Saliba is also being forced to adapt to a role on the left-side because White is more comfortable on the right. All this, just so that Havertz can operate in Xhaka's old role.

Arsenal were far stronger when Gabriel and Zinchenko were in the starting line-up, with White granted licence to push forward and link up with Bukayo Saka from right-back. Arteta would be wise to go back to basics, especially with Timber having been sidelined for a lengthy spell due to an unfortunate knee injury.

The current set-up is unsustainable – a fact that was exposed by Fulham at the weekend. Arsenal were undone by defensive errors and dropped two points against a team that had to play the final 10 minutes of the game with 10 men after a red card for Calvin Bassey.

The Gunners are currently way too open to counters. Saliba was left alone in the centre of the pitch for Andreas Pereira's early opener after Partey had moved into midfield and White had drifted over to the right as Arsenal built an attack – only for Saka to give the ball away cheaply.

Arteta's men are still dominating games and creating plenty of openings in the final third, but they look far more vulnerable at the other end of the pitch. And with huge games against Manchester United and Tottenham looming large on the horizon, something must be done to address their fragility.

GettyHavertz 'missing' scoring touch

Havertz can be forgiven for looking like a fish out of water in midfield right now, as he is having to shoulder unrealistic expectations in an alien role. However, his lack of clinical edge should be a real concern for Arteta.

Its no coincidence that the Germany international has had a hatful of chances in his first three appearances for Arsenal. He is adept when it comes to finding space in the box and carries a genuine aerial threat.

But Havertz continues to frustrate with his finishing. Arteta said as much after the Fulham game, telling reporters: "He’s had a lot of situations, he should have scored already a lot of goals this season, and that’s the thing that is missing there."

Chelsea fans certainly won't be surprised by Havertz's struggles for goals. He had an xG of 10.8 in his final Premier League season at Stamford Bridge and 44 percent of his shots hit the target, but he only scored seven goals.

For Arteta to justify sticking with Havertz, he is going to have to drastically improve his output. The German had just 28 touches against Fulham compared to Xhaka's 71 in the same fixture last season, which proves that he is not involved enough in Arsenal's build-up play.

If the goals were flowing, it wouldn't matter so much, but the Gunners can't afford to carry a player who isn't making any meaningful contribution to the team. Havertz is already firmly under the microscope, and it remains to be seen whether he will thrive or fold in the face of that pressure.

GettyVieira stakes his claim

Havertz's ineffective showing against Fulham was made all the more glaring by the impact of his replacement, Fabio Vieira. The Portuguese won the penalty for Saka to equalise for Arsenal in the 70th minute, and provided the assist for Eddie Nketiah to fire the hosts in front two minutes later.

Vieira was also seen as a strange signing when he arrived at the Emirates from Porto for £35m ($44m) last summer, and started just 14 games in his debut season for the Gunners. But the 23-year-old, who has famously compared his playing style to a certain Lionel Messi, may just have given Arteta another selection dilemma.

"Fabio was excellent. It is the first minutes he’s played in the Premier League this season and I was really impressed with how he wanted the ball and how positive he was, the decisions that he made and the attitude that he had straight away," the Arsenal boss said. "Fabio was involved in everything we created and I am really happy with that. To see players with the ability to make and take chances with quality. It is my fault that Fabio has not played more and today he gave me reasons to play him more."

Vieira deserves to start against United on Sunday after such an eye-catching performance. He looks hungry to show that he belongs at Arsenal, while Havertz is still very much finding his feet.

Dropping Havertz to the bench for such a crucial game could also serve as a kick up that backside. He probably thinks he's untouchable right now due to his hefty transfer fee, and a brutal reality check might be exactly what he needs.