Arsenal have confirmed the signing of Kai Harvetz from Chelsea in a £65 million deal.
The German international becomes Mikel Arteta’s first summer signing as the Spaniard looks to push on after the Gunners’ second-place finish last season.
Harvetz leaves Chelsea after three largely successful years in which he won the Championship League and Club World Cup. The 24-year-old made his name in Bayer Leverkusen as an attacking before sealing a £75 million deal to Stamford Bridge, where he played predominantly as a striker.
According to reports, Arteta is eager to use him as an attacking midfielder instead of as a number nine, as he’s used at Chelsea.
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Speaking about his signing, the Gunners boss pointed out that Harvetz will play in the midfield for Arsenal.
“Kai is a player of top quality,” he said. ‘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.”
Meanwhile, Harvetz shared his delight at joining the North London club, stating he is eager to begin.
“It’s super exciting for me to be joining this amazing club and to be part of the Arsenal family,” the German said after sealing his move to the Emirates.
“This club has such a long 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 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.”
Harvetz has been handed the number 29 shirt at Arsenal and is expected to join the club when they begin their pre-season in two weeks.
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