Arsenal bid below asking price for Kai Havertz, rejected — reports

It’s not known how much Arsenal bid. What is known is that they bid below our asking price (which is in the region of £70-75m), and thus their bid was rejected like that one time Francis Coquelin tried to tackle Eden Hazard.

According to multiple reports, including from Matt Law and Ben Jacobs, this is the just opening salvo in what is looking likely to turn into a bit of a saga, with Arsenal apparently ready to wait us out until we’re inclined to drop our demands and accept something a bit less. Chelsea of course are adamant that we will not relent, but with Havertz seemingly set on leaving, one imagines we will eventually have to do so.

So it’s perhaps in everyone’s best interest to arrive as early as we can at some sort of middle ground. Compromise makes the world go around, and the sooner we can gain clarity for the composition of the squad for next season, the better it will be for Pochettino & Co.