"Tough for him..." - Mikel Arteta fires back at journalist over Kai Havertz question

Mikel Arteta has squashed any suggestions that Arsenal fans are starting to turn on Kai Havertz.

Havertz was one of Arsenal’s big money signings of the summer transfer window after he arrived from Chelsea for a reported fee of £65 million.

However, the German has so far failed to live up to the expectations as he again struggled to perform during Arsenal’s 2-2 draw against Fulham on Saturday.

After the match, Gunners boss Arteta was asked whether fans are starting to turn on the 24-year-old.

You can watch the footage below.

Arteta said: “No I saw an action where he played backwards when he could have turned but that’s more I think the demands of everybody to play forward and to impact the game in the final third.

“Because we had the urgency to win but no.”

When asked if he is confident Havertz will win the fans over, Arteta said: “Yes I think so, I think he’s done good things today. It was tough for him in certain moments.

“He got in great areas again and the ball didn’t arrive, it didn’t arrive. A lot of situations he could have scored a lot of goals already and that’s the thing he is missing.”

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In what was billed to be a routine victory for the Gunners, they were behind after just one minute after Andreas Pereira latched onto a poor back pass by Bukayo Saka before putting the ball beyond Aaron Ramsdale.

Saka then equalised from 12-yards with 20 minutes to play, before Eddie Nketiah gave the Gunners the lead with 72 minutes on the clock.

However, Fulham were not to be denied as Portuguese midfielder Joao Palhinha earned a well deserved point for Marco Silva's men.

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Speaking to BBC Match of the Day afterwards, Arteta said: “We dominated the game and created countless chances and should have scored five, six, seven goals easily.

“We have to show another level of commitment and desire and 'over my dead body'. With 10 men, you cannot concede a goal.”