“He’s a wonderful talent and should be replacing the injured Gabriel Jesus”- England Legend Gary Lineker tells Mikel Arteta ‘the perfect’ player to replace Gabriel Jesus in the Community Shield final if Arsenal really want to beat Pep Guardiola- Not Nketiah- Not Balogun

Gary Lineker has said that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta could deploy Kai Havertz as the main striker upfront in the wake of the injury to Gabriel Jesus.

The former Tottenham Hotspur striker has told The Sun that Arsenal forward Kai Havertz is a wonderful talent.

Arsenal signed Havertz from London and Premier League rivals Chelsea in the summer transfer window.

Lineker believes that the 24-year-old Germany international is best played as a number 10.

However, the BBC Match of the Day presenter believes that Arteta could play Havertz upfront due to injury to Gabriel Jesus.

Jesus is the number one striker at Arsenal, but the Brazil international is injured at the moment and will miss the start of the new season.

Lineker said: “I’m also intrigued to see where Kai Havertz fits in because he is a wonderful talent. 

“Despite scoring Chelsea’s winner in the 2021 Champions League final, I don’t think we’ve seen the best of the German yet. 

“He looks to me like his best position might be as a No 10 but Arsenal have the excellent Martin Odegaard there already.

“Havertz may start the season at centre-forward as Gabriel Jesus is injured but he could also operate wide on the left or right or in a deeper role. 

“He certainly adds depth and I’d expect Arsenal to add to their squad even further before the deadline.”

Kai Havertz would be an asset to Arsenal

In our opinion, Arsenal forward Kai Havertz would be an asset to manager Mikel Arteta.

The German is a very versatile player who can operate as a number 10, out wide or down the middle as a centre-forward.

Havertz did play as a striker for a chunk of last season at Chelsea.

The 24-year-old made 30 starts and gave five assists in those games.

The forward scored seven goals and gave one assist in those games.

If Jesus is on the sidelines for the opening weeks of the new season, then playing Havertz in his role in attack may not be a bad idea.

However, Arteta does have other options.

Eddie Nketiah and Folarin Balogun are natural strikers.