Carragher insists Gyokeres will never displace Havertz as Arsenal's first-choice striker

Jamie Carragher has declared that Viktor Gyokeres will never displace Kai Havertz as Arsenal’s first-choice striker, pointing to the German’s all-round contribution as the reason Mikel Arteta keeps selecting him ahead of the club’s marquee summer signing.

Havertz, who missed a large portion of last season through injury, has returned in commanding form, starting all three Premier League fixtures and scoring against Coventry and Chelsea to help Arsenal maintain a perfect record. Gyokeres, by contrast, has been restricted to substitute appearances and is yet to make a meaningful impact in the league this term.

“To displace Havertz out of this team, you need to be one of the best players in the world — it has to be an Ian Wright or Thierry Henry, a guarantee of 30 goals a season,” Carragher said. “Gyokeres is never taking Havertz’s place, nor would [Morgan] Rogers, and it is not so much what they give you in attack, more what they give you as a team.”

Carragher’s argument centres on Havertz’s defensive discipline. “One of the reasons you cannot break Arsenal down is because of how well they press from the front, but then when the opposition get through that, they all get back behind the ball and Havertz is about 25-30 yards from his goal. You ask a world-class striker to do that — he will not do that.”

Arteta echoed the sentiment after the Chelsea victory, highlighting Havertz’s broader impact beyond goals. “He looks happy, he looks settled, and some great things have happened in his personal life as well,” the Arsenal manager said. “He feels fit, he’s training every day and has this routine right now. He’s scoring goals, but not only that — he’s also doing amazing work for the team.”

Gyokeres arrived last summer as one of the most anticipated signings of the window and did break the 20-goal barrier in his debut season, yet questions about his suitability to Arteta’s system persisted throughout. Havertz ultimately received the nod to start the Champions League final, and that decision appears to have set the template for this campaign.

Arteta acknowledged the challenge facing players competing for limited minutes in a deep squad. “It’s no question that we have some great players,” he said. “I believe in them and that they can improve, and they can have another version of themselves that is even better than what we’ve seen.” For Gyokeres, finding that version may depend less on his goal tally and more on convincing Arteta he can fulfil the same pressing and defensive role that makes Havertz so difficult to drop.