Jorginho has launched a passionate defence of his Arsenal teammate Kai Havertz (Picture: The Athletic)
Jorginho has launched a passionate defence of his Arsenal teammate Kai Havertz and claims you don’t love football if you can’t appreciate the Germany international’s talents.
Eyebrows were raised in the summer when Mikel Arteta pushed to sign the 24-year-old with the intention of reinventing him as a left eight to fill the void created by Granit Xhaka’s departure.
Havertz initially struggled to cope with the physical and tactical demands of his new role, but there have been some encouraging signs in recent weeks with goals against Brentford and Lens providing his confidence with a much needed shot in the arm.
Jorginho spent three years at Stamford Bridge alongside Havertz and admits he feels a measure of sympathy for a player who is often misunderstood.
He told The Athletic: ‘For me he is an unbelievable player, as a guy no word,s so good. Such a nice guy, I love Kai. He became a friend and I always want the best for him.
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‘As a player his qualities are intelligence. It’s funny because you look at him and think he is not fast, but he is fast. Then you think he’s not strong because maybe he look skinny but the he goes to the challenge and he’s strong.
‘Maybe it takes a little bit of time for people to understand his qualities and what he brings to the team and how much effort he puts in and how much hard work he puts in.
‘His qualities come out when his confidence is all of a sudden much higher. His technique, his finishing, it looks like he just put it there like he doesn’t care and the ball goes in the corner and I’m like ‘how do you do that?’.
Kai Havertz and Jorginho have been reunited at Arsenal having been teammates previously at Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
‘He’s such a huge player and I’m telling you this guy is so so so good and I hope everyone can appreciate it.’
Jorginho, himself, has not always been appreciated by Premier League fans and was booed by his own supporters during the early period of his own Chelsea career.
Asked if he could identify with Havertz’s struggles in winning over the doubters, he added: ‘For sure 100%. If you know football it’s not possible you don’t like Kai.
‘It happened to me a lot but when you play beside him it’s just different you know and you see straight away his qualities and what he an offer you.
‘You just look at him and you understand what he wants and what he expects from you and where he expects the ball. The way he puts his body in certain positions you know what he wants next.
‘He makes things easier for who is beside you.’
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