Arsenal’s decision to spend £65million on Kai Havertz this summer appeared to many as an expensive gamble, and so far it is proving that way. The Germany international is yet to score or assist in his opening trio of Premier League games for the Gunners and we are comparing his record after three games with other high profile expensive signings in recent years.
Kai Havertz First Three Arsenal Games (£65m)
- Arsenal 2-1 Nottingham Forest | Minutes played: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | xG: 0.05 | Sofascore rating: 7.2
- Crystal Palace 0-1 Arsenal | Minutes played: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | xG: 0.02 | Sofascore rating: 6.9
- Arsenal 2-2 Fulham | Minutes played: 56 | Goals 0 | Assists | 0 | xG: 0.28 | Sofascore rating: 7.0
It is fair to say that Havertz has not proved his worth so far in an Arsenal shirt and his most recent game against Fulham was probably his worst so far. The former Chelsea man touched the ball just 22 times in the first half on Saturday, and managed just six more after half-time before he was hooked off on the 56th minute.
Despite a lot of criticism so far, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has insisted that the £65m man will win the Arsenal fans over.
“‘Yes, I think he will,”Arteta said post-match. “I think he’s done already really good things today. It was tough for him in certain moments, he got in great areas again and the ball didn’t arrive.
“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.”
Kai Havertz for Arsenal in the Premier League so far this season:
◉ Most fouls won
◉ Most aerial duels won
◉ Only Saka has created more chances
◉ Only Saka has won more duels◎ 0 take-ons completed
◎ 0 shots on target
◎ 0 assists
◎ 0 goalsWhere do you stand? ⚖️ pic.twitter.com/TO1vWKEAaZ
— Squawka (@Squawka) August 29, 2023
Mykhaylo Mudryk First Three Chelsea Games (£89m)
- Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea | Minutes played: 35 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | xG: 0.35 | Sofascore rating: 6.6
- Chelsea 0-0 Fulham | Minutes played: 45 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | xG: 0.00 | Sofascore rating: 6.4
- West Ham 1-1 Chelsea | Minutes Played: 67 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | xG: 0.00 | Sofascore rating: 6.7
Mykhaylo Mudryk is still yet to score a competitive goal for Chelsea after signing earlier on this year in January. The Blues payed £89m for him from Shakhtar Donetsk, and he has been a complete flop so far.
He made his debut against Liverpool just six days after making his transfer official but failed to make an impact. He started his first game for the club against Fulham just a couple of weeks later, but was subbed off at half-time without registering a single shot at goal. Mudryk eventually ended up recording two assists for the side last season, but didn’t find the back of the net.
The Ukrainian is currently injured for Chelsea, and missed their most recent game against Luton Town.
Kai Havertz had a better average rating than Mudryk in his first three games.
Jadon Sancho First Three Manchester United Games (£73m)
- Manchester United 5-1 Leeds United | Minutes played: 15 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | xG: 0.00 | Sofascore rating: 6.6
- Southampton 1-1 Manchester United | Minutes played: 31 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | xG: 0.00 | Sofascore rating: 6.7
- Wolves 0-1 Manchester United | Minutes played: 72 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | xG: 0.00 | Sofascore rating: 6.1
Jadon Sancho was destined to be one of England’s top talents after doing so well in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund, but since joining Manchester United, he is yet to live up to those expectations.
He scored his first goal for the Red Devils in the Champions League against Villareal to secure his side’s spot in the knockout stage. That ended up being a good week for the then 21-year-old, as he then scored his first Premier League goal for the club against Chelsea.
Sancho has been subject of interest from a number Premier League sides this summer, linking him with a move away from Old Trafford, but he remains at the club.
Kai Havertz performed better than Sancho in his first three games according to average ratings.
Richarlison First Three Tottenham Games (£60m)
- Chelsea 2-2 Tottenham | Minutes played: 33 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | xG: 0.00 | Sofascore rating: 6.2
- Tottenham 1-0 Wolves | Minutes played: 14 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | xG: 0.07 | Sofascore rating: 6.8
- Nottingham Forest 0-2 Tottenham | Minutes played: 16 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 1 | xG: 0.38 | Sofascore rating: 7.3
Richarlison signed for Spurs last summer for £60m, and despite playing just 63 minutes of football in his first three games, he contributed more than Havertz, Mudryk and Sancho combined.
He scored his first two goals for the club in a Champions League group stage game against Marseille where Spurs won 2-0. His next goal came at the back end of last season in a 4-3 defeat to Liverpool.
Richarlison will be expected to see a lot more playing time this season, after Harry Kane joined Bayern Munich. He has already played over three times as many minutes in his first three games of the new campaign, compared to the first three of last, but is yet to record a goal contribution.
The Sofascore ratings for Kai Havertz and Richarlison are fairly similar, but the latter produced more goal contributions.
Antony First Three Manchester United Games (£82m)
- Manchester United 3-1 Arsenal | Minutes played: 58 | Goals: 1 | Assists: 0 | xG: 0.41 | Sofascore rating: 7.3
- Manchester City 6-3 Manchester United | Minutes played: 90 | Goals: 1 | Assists: 0 | xG: 0.23 | Sofascore rating: 6.8
- Everton 1-2 Manchester United | Minutes played: 89 | Goals: 1 | Assists: 0 | xG: 0.41 | Sofascore rating: 7.3
Antony had a good start to his Old Trafford career and he became the first United player to score in their first three Premier League games. He scored on his debut in a 3-1 win over Arsenal, before netting in a derby day loss against Manchester City.
Antony then set a new club-record by equalising against Everton in his third league game.
The Brazilian impressed, and continued to put in some top performances for the club, whilst not scoring lots of goals. However, he did establish himself as one of the first names on the team sheet, and he is rated very highly by Erik ten Hag from their days together at Ajax.
Antony performed much better than Kai Havertz did in his first three Premier League games.
Jack Grealish First Three Manchester City Games (£100m)
- Tottenham 1-0 Manchester City | Minutes played: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Sofascore rating: 7.5
- Manchester City 5-0 Norwich | Minutes played: 75 | Goals: 1 | Assists: 0 | Sofascore rating: 7.7
- Manchester City 5-0 Arsenal | Minutes played: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 1 | Sofascore rating: 7.7
The Cityzens payed a lot of money for Jack Grealish a couple of summers ago, which led to a lot of people talking about him. He didn’t have the greatest first season for City, but scored his first goal for the club on just his second league appearance.
Grealish also scored on his Champions League debut in a 6-3 victory over RB Leipzig in the group stage. It took Grealish some time to adapt to City’s style of play, after previously being the face of Aston Villa. However, he more than adapted in his second season when the club signed Erling Haaland.
Haaland and Grealish are said to be very close friends, and the Norwegian improved the former Villa man. The 27-year-old received a lot of praise last season after he helped City to a second consecutive Premier League trophy.
Grealish grabbed two goal contributions in his firs three league games, producing a much better Sofascore rating than Kai Havertz.
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