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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Simon Collings and Nizaar Kinsella

Arsenal agree £65m deal to sign Kai Havertz with Chelsea striker set to undergo medical

Arsenal are closing in a deal to make Chelsea forward Kai Havertz their first summer signing.

The Gunners have an agreement in principle with Chelsea over a transfer worth £65million, including add-ons.

Havertz wants to join Arsenal and personal terms are in place.

The 24-year-old now needs to undergo a medical but the deal looks set to kickstart a huge summer recruitment drive at Arsenal.

Chelsea had been reluctant to sell Havertz this summer but the Germany international was unwilling to sign a new contract and had just two years left on his current deal.

The Blues had wanted £70m for Havertz but settled on a deal at a slightly reduced rate.

Chelsea need to sell players to help balance the books and reduce the size of their squad and are in a race to offload unwanted players before June 30, so the sales can be included in their financial accounts for 2022-23.

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Havertz has struggled at Chelsea since his £71m move from Bayer Leverkusen in 2020 and has mainly been used a centre-forward at Stamford Bridge.

But he joined Chelsea as an attacking midfielder and Arteta is confident he can unlock his potential at Arsenal.

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