Pundit makes Kai Havertz claim after display in Arsenal win over Nottingham Forest

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Don Hutchison has admitted that he is not sure that it is going to happen for Kai Havertz at Arsenal after the midfielder made his Premier League debut for the Gunners at the weekend.

Hutchison was speaking to ESPN after the 24-year-old helped Mikel Arteta’s side beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 at the Emirates on Saturday.

Kai Havertz is one player who surely needs to hit the ground running this season. Certainly, few would have expected that he would move for such big money this summer after such a difficult time at Chelsea.

But Mikel Arteta clearly feels that he can be the manager to unlock his full potential. And there were some promising signs when he made his debut in the Community Shield.

Hutchison cannot see Havertz being a success at Arsenal

Havertz started up front at Wembley. But he dropped into the midfield for the clash with Forest at the weekend. And he definitely seemed to have less of an impact on the game.

Forest defended in a low-block. And with Thomas Partey pushing forward from right-back, everything seemed quite congested in front of the visitors’ penalty area. Therefore, it took two moments of magic to set up Arsenal for the win.

Neither came from Havertz. And in truth, Arsenal fans may struggle to remember too much the Germany international did during the game.

With that, Hutchison believes that it is going to be tough for Havertz to succeed at the Emirates.

“Not sure, I don’t think it’s going to happen for him. I don’t. I think he’s a good player. But I don’t know where he’s going to play,” he told ESPN.

“He’s definitely not a false nine. We’ve seen that at Chelsea. We’re going to see it at Arsenal. When he plays on the left-hand side going forward, it looks good on paper when you think Havertz, Rice and Odegaard, you think that’s amazing.

“But Forest proved you can get at this side, you can run Odegaard back away, you can run Havertz back away, it’s not their strengths.”

The problem Havertz has is the depth Arsenal now have. Leandro Trossard is someone who can play in a number of the same positions. And he has definitely had a major impact since joining the Gunners.

Given his struggles, and the fee which brought him to the Emirates, it was always imperative that he made a fast start. Otherwise, all of his doubters would need little encouragement to write him off.

It is obviously way too soon to write him off completely. And most importantly for him, Arteta is not going to lose faith in Havertz after one league game.

But you can certainly understand why pundits such as Hutchison have their concerns.