Joe Cole slams Chelsea for selling ‘world-class’ player to Arsenal | Football

Joe Cole slammed Chelsea for selling ‘world-class’ Kai Havertz to Arsenal after Xabi Alonso’s side were beaten by the Premier League champions.

Havertz helped Arsenal maintain their perfect start to the new season by scoring the equaliser in a 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium.

Chelsea summer signing and ex-Arsenal transfer target Morgan Rogers gave the visitors the lead inside two minutes but Havertz equalised midway through the first half.

In-form Martin Odegaard put Arsenal ahead just after half-time and the captain’s goal proved to be the winner as Chelsea failed to score an equaliser of their own.

The result means only Arsenal and Manchester City have taken a maximum nine points from their first three games, while Chelsea stay fourth with six.

Arsenal’s £65m move for Havertz in 2023 raised eyebrows given the German’s three mixed seasons at Stamford Bridge.

But Havertz is now Arsenal’s first-choice striker – ahead of £64m signing Viktor Gyokeres – and produced another influential performance in Sunday’s win over Chelsea.

‘I think if you’ve got Kai Havertz at your club you’re watching him every day, week in, week out,’ Cole said on Premier League Productions.

‘Coaches and managers come and go, but the Directors of Football? Look at the amount of money on centre-forwards the club has spent since they him go out the door.

‘It’s just not good enough; I think it’s got to stop happening. It happened with Kevin De Bruyne [leaving]; it happened with Kai Havertz.

‘Those kind of deals never happened at Manchester United with Sir Alex Ferguson, or with Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

‘When did you hear of them letting go of a player who went on to become world class at one of your rivals?’

Odegaard heaped praise on Havertz, who also played a role in Arsenal’s winner, after the 2-1 win over Chelsea.

‘He’s a really smart player,’ the Arsenal skipper said. ‘He moves so well and takes a lot of attention from the defenders and it was a brilliant goal.’

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, said of Havertz: ‘He looks happy. He looks settled, happy, and some great things have happened in his personal life as well.

‘He feels fit, he’s training every day and has this routine right now. He’s scoring goals, but not only that – he’s also doing amazing work for the team.’

Arsenal face Napoli on Wednesday night in their first Champions League game of the season while Chelsea take on Leeds United in midweek in the Carabao Cup.

Speaking after Arsenal beat his former club Chelsea, Havertz said: ‘It’s always nice to win at home against a London rival. It was a tough game but over the 90 minutes, we deserved to win that game.

‘They have strong players. They have an amazing squad but so do we. We knew it was going to be tough and it’s going to be a tight game.

‘They scored early, so it’s not easy for us but we believed in ourselves and changed the game around.’

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