Kai Havertz has officially been unveiled as an Arsenal player after the Gunners forked out £65million to pry him away from London rivals Chelsea.
The 24-year-old notched the winning goal in the Champions League final for the Blues back in 2021 but still leaves Stamford Bridge with a feeling that he underwhelmed during his three years at the club. However, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has clearly seen enough to deem Havertz worthy of a sizeable transfer fee as the Gunners aim to go one better than last season and win the title.
There is always a sense of controversy when a player makes the short trip across the capital to a direct London rival, but Havertz is not the first person to leave Chelsea for Arsenal. In fact, he's not even the first ex-Blues player in the current crop of Gunners.
Jorginho made the same switch just six months prior when Arsenal needed midfield reinforcements during the January transfer window.
His arrival was greeted with a fair amount of scepticism, much like Havertz's has, but Jorginho has exceeded expectations so far at the Emirates and put in some impressive performances. There is an argument to be made that he ended the season in a stronger fashion than Thomas Partey in the Arsenal midfield.
As a result, the Italian is clearly loving life in north London and said as much recently with comments that will surely make for welcome reading from Havertz's perspective as he gears up for his first taste of the Arsenal experience.
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Addressing speculation linking him with the Emirates exit already, Jorginho told the Evening Standard: "I’m very happy to stay at Arsenal to be honest.
"Those rumours, I’m not sure who was behind it, but nothing at the moment has happened to me. I’m quite happy where I am."
Discussing his early exchanges at the beginning of his Gunners career, Jorginho added: "To be honest, I was surprised, but really happy by how welcomed I was, how (Arsenal) treated me when I came in. It just made everything so much easier for me to know more people to integrate in the team. So it was really, really, really good and I am really, really happy."
Havertz will be hoping for similar treatment when he eventually links up with his new teammates at the start of pre-season.
It seems as if the 24-year-old already has a good sense of what the Arsenal dressing room is like if his first interview as a Gunners player is anything to go by.
"I think the family mentality that the team has on the pitch is one of the reasons why it so hard to play against Arsenal," he claimed.
"I guess they have it off the pitch as well. So the team mentality in the squad is very, very high and you can feel that. Obviously, there's so many talented players and there’s big room to achieve big things as well."
