Simon Jordan has joked that Kai Havertz may be a “tax loss” purchase for Arsenal, as he pondered “for crying out loud, what have they bought there?”
The Gunners have made four signings so far this summer. The marquee move was for West Ham midfielder Declan Rice, before they also signed Havertz, Jurrien Timber and David Raya.
Those men should conceivably each strengthen a different area of the pitch to each other. However, Jordan does not believe Havertz is a particularly strong signing for the side.
Indeed, there was an incident in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace in which Takehiro Tomiyasu was booked – before later being sent off – for holding the ball for too long at a throw in, after Havertz had also done so in an attempt to waste time.
Responding to that incident, Jordan suggested the signing of Havertz was a waste of time in itself, after explaining that the new rules on time wasting will see sides change how they go about certain situations.
“This will be a non-event. It’s a conscious decision, you got in the habit pretty quick, get out of it,” he said on talkSPORT.
“If you think it’s an important part of the game and you’re going to roll around the floor and make a four-act play out of it then the consequences of it are you’re going to get booked. You’re a player, your job is to play.
“There will be errors. To me, Havertz is the ultimate time-waster full stop. I don’t know what he is to Arsenal. Is he a tax loss or something. For crying out loud what have they bought there?”
The signing of Havertz raised eyebrows initially due to the fact Arsenal paid £65million for him, despite the fact they already have three strikers.
He’s being utilised in the midfield at the moment by Mikel Arteta, and while he hasn’t done an awful lot so far, it’s only early days at the club, and in his current position.
As such, it feels far too early to criticise the signing. Arteta has made some fantastic additions in his tenure at the club, so there’s no reason this one should not be trusted. If the Gunners are to win a trophy this season, none of the signings will look bad.
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