Kai Havertz names one thing he's had to improve at Arsenal

Kai Havertz has revealed that he has had to work on the defensive side of his game since swapping Chelsea for Arsenal.

Havertz made the jump across London last summer in a deal worth in excess of £60m and was initially criticised after struggling in a new midfield role. But he has also played his part in some of Arsenal's biggest victories, most recently impressing with his movement in the 3-1 victory over Liverpool.

With most of his minutes coming in a deeper position alongside Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice, Havertz admitted it has taken him time to figure out the responsibilities of a new role.

"Before, I used to focus a lot just on the offence, but defence is also a big part of the game and I knew that so I've worked on that quite a lot," he told Sky Sports. "I've been getting used to all the players, to the style of football and now, I feel very comfortable in the team so that's good.

"We [Havertz, Odegaard and Rice] are all young, I think we are a similar age group. It's amazing to play with them. They're both top players and we are still getting used to each other, it is only five months that we've know each other. Hopefully there's a big future ahead of us as well."

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With just five goals and one assist to his name in all competitions this season, Havertz has often been put down for a perceived lack of output in the final third, but the Germany international urged his doubters to pay attention to other aspects of his game.

"I think that's just how it is nowadays - people don't watch the games, they just see the goals and assists and if no one scored, they had a bad game," Havertz said. "But for me, I didn't start playing football because of this. Obviously it's the best thing to do to score goals, and I love it, but there are a lot of different things you have to do in the game as well.

"I want to score goals, I want to assist and that's the nicest thing you can do, so I just try my best every game for that."

He continued: "I'm a player who always wants to attack the box, wants to make those runs and I think it's always important to sometimes, not even get the ball, but to create space for other players. So I like to do these runs and I think they are always important to our game."

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