Paul Merson has expressed his disbelief over a deal Arsenal were able to do after watching the Gunners beat Chelsea 5-0 at the Emirates on Tuesday night.
Arsenal have kept their Premier League title hopes very much alive after a scintillating second-half performance saw the Gunners blow Mauricio Pochettino’s side away.
The result reminded everyone of how far the Blues remain from being title contenders again, despite their improved form leading into their FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City at the weekend.
Certainly, it proved to be another disappointing night for Nicolas Jackson, who was fortunate to not be sent off and squandered some more good chances to get the visitors back into the game.
Unfortunately for Pochettino, Jackson appears to remain his best striker option right now. And with that, Paul Merson has been left questioning one deal the current Chelsea hierarchy oversaw.
Paul Merson baffled by Chelsea selling Kai Havertz to Arsenal
Kai Havertz scored two of the goals for Arsenal, netting his first brace for the Gunners following his move to the Emirates last summer.
It was a surprising move from Arsenal given that Havertz had not exactly set the world alight during his time at Chelsea. But with hindsight, Paul Merson has told Sky Sports that he cannot understand the thinking behind cashing in on the 24-year-old.
“It’s a bad cycle they have put themselves in. I don’t know what they were doing,” he said.
“We saw it against Arsenal, Kai Havertz is better than what Chelsea have got. So why would you sell someone and bring in players that are not better than what you’ve already got?
“Oh, I know. Sorry. Because in five years’ time they will be better. Where is the thinking in this? Seven and eight-year contracts? Oh my god, it’s not baseball. You’re not buying a pitcher.”
Why pundit is potentially wrong about decision to sell German
What you do have to say is that Havertz hardly looked set to inspire a turnaround at Chelsea while he was there.
Havertz did score the goal in the Champions League final to win the Blues their second title, but his form last season was so underwhelming as he only scored seven times in the league.
So there are probably no guarantees that he would have been a lot better than Jackson had he stayed anyway.
Havertz has not been perfect at Arsenal, but he has thrived up front in a Gunners side which continues to get better and better.
It is Arsenal who have brought the best out of Havertz, and this turnaround probably was not on the cards had he remained at Chelsea.
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