Graeme Souness names the Arsenal player who hasn’t improved one bit under Mikel Arteta

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Mikel Arteta has been at the helm at Arsenal for over five years.

The Spaniard inherited a really average squad in 2019. Most of the players were not good enough, and there were issues with some of their discipline too.

Arteta has had to work really hard over the years to transform Arsenal, and he has done a magnificent job. We think he has improved every player who has played under him.

However, Graeme Souness feels one player hasn’t got any better under the Arsenal manager.

Graeme Souness delivers brutal Kai Havertz verdict at Arsenal

Kai Havertz has been dividing opinion at Arsenal for over 18 months now.

The German joined the Gunners for big money in the summer of 2023. Not many people were convinced with him at the time and his difficult first few months made things worse.

However, Havertz turned things around in the second half of the campaign and finished the season strongly. He has been more than decent this time as well.

But, the former Chelsea man still comes under a lot of criticism, and everybody feels Arsenal need to replace him up top.

Souness is of a similar opinion, and he has now gone as far as saying that Havertz has not improved under Arteta at Arsenal.

He wrote in the Daily Mail: “They spent £65 million in June 2023 to take Kai Havertz from Chelsea, believing Mikel could make him a better player. Well, I’m afraid that’s not happened.

“Havertz has not got any better. He is simply not the answer for them.”

Is Souness right about Havertz? Here’s what the stats say

Souness has had a go at Havertz before as well, calling him ‘too nice’ to help Arsenal win the Premier League.

Now, he has claimed that the German has ‘not got any better’ since joining the Gunners, but is that statement accurate?

Here’s what the stats say:

In his debut year under Arteta at Arsenal, Havertz equalled his highest goalscoring season at Chelsea and also provided more assists than he ever did at Stamford Bridge in a single campaign.

So far this term, Havertz has scored 15 goals in all competitions – that’s more than he ever managed in a season for the Blues.

Havertz is on track to score over 20 goals this season, which would make this his best-ever campaign in front of goal in his entire professional career.

Souness’ comments are nonsense – Arteta has improved Havertz massively and will continue to do so in the coming years.