‘He has gained our respect’: Mikel Arteta hails Havertz after Arsenal’s fast start

Mikel Arteta hailed the contribution of Kai Havertz after the German scored one and assisted another to defeat Wolves and quieten talk of Arsenal needing to sign a new striker.

Havertz flourished as a centre‑forward in the second half of last season and retained his starting spot ahead of Gabriel Jesus to lead the frontline in Arsenal’s opening game of the new campaign. Arteta said: “Every player needs some time to adapt and get to know everybody – the club, the relationships, the system. But obviously I think he’s gained the confidence and respect of everybody with the way he handled certain situations and with the way he’s performing.”

The hosts largely dominated at the Emirates, with Havertz expertly heading Bukayo Saka’s cross for the opener before returning the favour for Saka to add a second. After initially struggling following his £65m move from Chelsea last summer, Havertz has now scored 10 goals in his last 15 Premier League games.

While steering clear of making any bold title predictions, Arteta insisted he had seen a willingness from his players to take the extra step required to win the Premier League this season. His side might have been further ahead by half‑time against Wolves, but had to ride out a tricky period in the second half before Saka’s beautifully taken strike.

“The first half we were really good, really aggressive, really intense, with a lot of purpose to attack,” said Arteta. “Probably we should have scored two or three and the game would have been different.

“In the second half we were sloppy in moments and didn’t control some giveaways inside, which against this team in particular can be difficult. Then the game was a bit more open. Then Bukayo had an unbelievable action to score for 2-0 and it was a different game.

“Win in any context. You’ll have better days, or worse days. The opposition will guide you to play in a specific type of way. Today we won in a convincing way, but probably in a different way because it’s what the game requires.”

His Wolves counterpart, Gary O’Neil, insisted there were “lots of positives” to take from the defeat, but admitted he hopes to bring in new signings before the transfer window shuts. Wolves have sold Max Kilman and Pedro Neto for almost £100m this summer.

“I love how they went about today,” said O’Neil. “Still some craziness in there, but loads of heart and loads of quality. “But it’s a ruthless league and we have an opportunity in the next few weeks to be clever and get some stuff done. The next couple of weeks are really big for us.

“You take £100m last summer, you take £100m this summer – if you don’t use it cleverly it gets tougher and tougher. It is a tough league and the more help we can get, the better we will be.”