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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Samuel Meade

Kai Havertz enjoys first Arsenal training session while new team-mates play secret friendly

Kai Havertz was training with his Arsenal team-mates for the first time on Saturday following his move from Chelsea.

The German made the switch across London in a deal worth £65m as the Gunners look to bolster their options ahead of the new campaign. Havertz's former side have seen plenty of new names arrive and have had to offload some notable stars, Havertz among them.

It is to Arsenal's gain however as the versatile forward has begun embedding himself in the systems at their London Colney base. Havertz will offer Mikel Arteta with plenty of options in the final third with the 24-year-old capable of playing in a variety of positions.

The Spanish coach said upon his arrival: "Kai is a player of top quality. He has great versatility and is an intelligent player. He will bring a huge amount of extra strength to our midfield and variety to our play. We welcome Kai and his family to Arsenal Football Club and we are all excited to start working with him when we start pre-season training soon."

The new signing added: "The mentality in the Arsenal squad is very high and you can feel that. That was one of the reasons why it has been so hard to play against Arsenal recently. The aim is to win trophies and I'm going to give everything to do that for the supporters and everyone at the club. I'm now looking forward to meeting all the players and the staff when we come back for pre-season."

Havertz is set to be the first of several big name summer signings at the Emirates with Arsenal's spending set to edge the £200m barrier in a matter of days. A club-record move for Declan Rice is close whilst Ajax's Jurrien Timber is also poised to make the move to the Premier League.

The trio will improve a squad that were best of the rest in the top flight last term, but will now have to contend with the added pressures that come with playing in the Champions League. Arteta's side will have more stress placed on their resources and need more depth.

Havertz was put through his paces along with several other first-team stars (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Havertz was put through his paces alongside William Saliba and Thomas Partey in a session on Saturday. Meanwhile, several first-team stars were in action as the north Londoners took on Championship outfit Watford in a pre-season friendly at their training ground. Arteta named a team featuring recognisable names as well as academy products.

It was Marquinhos, who was loaned out last term, who scored their equaliser in the second-half. Arsenal's backline featured Gabriel, Ben White and Rob Holding. Unknown quantities Myles Lewis-Skelly and Mauro Bandeira were also picked alongside Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah.

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