Arsenal complete signing of Kai Havertz from Chelsea

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Arsenal complete signing of Kai Havertz from Chelsea

Arsenal have announced the signing of Kai Havertz from rivals Chelsea.

The Germany international was courted by several top sides this summer despite a largely underwhelming three years at Stamford Bridge.

90min reported earlier this transfer window that Real Madrid considered him as a replacement for Saudi Arabia-bound Karim Benzema, while Bayern Munich showed a willingness to step up their long-term interest.

Chelsea's lofty asking price proved to be a stumbling block for Real and Bayern, but not for Arsenal, who have now completed the signing of Havertz for a fee believed to be in excess of £65m.

The 24-year-old becomes Arsenal's first signing of the summer, with the Gunners hoping to conclude deals for Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice in the near future.

Havertz leaves Chelsea having scored just 32 goals in 139 games for the Blues, though will be fondly remembered in west London for grabbing the winner against Manchester City in the 2021 UEFA Champions League final.

"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," Mikel Arteta said.

"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 player himself added, "It's super exciting for me to be joining this amazing club and to be part of the Arsenal family. This club has such a big history, and I hope we can achieve lots of things.

"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."