Jamie Carragher claims £64m Arsenal star is ‘never’ going to start after Chelsea win | OneFootball

Jamie Carragher has explained why he thinks Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres is “never” going to start ahead of Kai Havertz.

Gyokeres joined Arsenal last summer for around £64m to provide competition for Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.

Jesus’ summer move to Barcelona leaves head coach Mikel Arteta with Gyokeres and Havertz as his main striker options for this season, and he has preferred the Germany international at the start of this campaign.

Havertz has made an excellent start to the 2026/27 season, and he scored in Arsenal’s 2-1 win against Chelsea on Sunday.

After the match, Carragher warned Gyokeres that is now “never” going to start ahead of Havertz.

“To displace Kai Havertz out this team, you’re talking about one of the best players in the world, that’s what you have to get,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.

“Gyokeres is never taking Havertz’s place…”

“It has to be an Ian Wright, guaranteed 30 goals a season, a Thierry Henry. Gyokeres is never taking Havertz’s place, not ever. Morgan Rogers I’m not sure [would have], as well.

“It’s not about how good they are just in attack, it’s what they give you for the team. One of the reasons why you can’t break Arsenal down as a team is how well they press from the front.

“But then when the opposition get through that, they all get behind the ball, and Havertz is about 25, 30 yards from his goal.

“You go and ask a world-class striker to do that, I guy who’s obsessed with his numbers and his goals to come back and do that, he won’t do that.”

He continued: “When you see Havertz, what he does in terms of both boxes, set-piece wise as well. Havertz is more of a facilitator, he’s not a great goalscorer, can [Bukayo] Saka or the wide players get more goals the way [Mohamed] Salah and [Sadio] Mane used to with Bobby Firmino in that position.

‘”They’re not both great goalscorers, but they bring an awful lot to the team. And this idea that you’ve got to bring someone in who’s like, amazing, yes, I’m the one who’s said consistently, they haven’t got one of the best players in the world in the front four.

“But you better get someone at that level, at that unbelievable level, to take Havertz out of that team.

“Mikel Arteta, the type of manager that he is, taking Havertz out of that team and what he does for that team defensively, we talk about how strong they are defensively, no-one can get a shot on target, it’s not just the goalkeeper and the back four, that’s the whole team.

“So he’d be giving up on, actually, some of his team’s defensive solidity, to add a little bit more in the attack, that’s the decision every manager has to take.”