Gary Lineker says ‘wonderful’ Arsenal player could start as a striker after Gabriel Jesus’ injury

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Arsenal were dealt a huge blow at the start of the week after it was confirmed that Gabriel Jesus will be out of action for a while due to injury – Gary Lineker thinks Kai Havertz could take his place.

The Gunners struggled with injuries last season and many think that’s the biggest reason why they did not win the Premier League title. William Saliba’s back problem really cost them, but they coped very well when Jesus was out for three months.

Now, Arsenal have to do it again, and Lineker told The Sun Mikel Arteta could deploy Havertz up top.

Gary Lineker thinks Kai Havertz could play as a striker for Arsenal after Gabriel Jesus’ injury

Arsenal signed Kai Havertz from Chelsea in a £65 million deal at the end of June (BBC).

That move raised plenty of eyebrows, but there is a feeling among many that Aretta could really help him explode after three miserable years at Stamford Bridge.

Lineker has been watching Havertz for years now, and he too thinks nobody has seen the best of the 24-year-old yet.

The pundit says he’s really intrigued to see how he fares at Arsenal and claimed the Gunners may well use him as a striker to start the season off due to Gabriel Jesus’ injury.

Lineker said: “I’m also intrigued to see where Kai Havertz fits in because he is a wonderful talent.

“Despite scoring Chelsea’s winner in the 2021 Champions League final, I don’t think we’ve seen the best of the German yet. He looks to me like his best position might be as a No 10 but Arsenal have the excellent Martin Odegaard there already.

“Havertz may start the season at centre-forward as Gabriel Jesus is injured but he could also operate wide on the left or right or in a deeper role.”

TBR View:

Well, Havertz is more than capable of playing as a striker for Arsenal.

The German was deployed up front on numerous occasions at Chelsea, and he definitely has the height, intelligence and ability to link play to start in that role.

However, we think Havertz is far more suited to a left-attacking-midfield role at Arsenal – the position he was used in during pre-season – and we expect Arteta to use him there.

As for Arsenal’s striker until Jesus returns, we think it will either be Eddie Nketiah or Leandro Trossard,