Mikel Arteta addressed the work of **Kai Havertz**in a 3-2 win for **Arsenal**against Kairat Almaty.
Hamstring and knee injuries have ruled him out of most of the last twelve months of action for the Gunners, but he made his mark with a goal and assist in his first start since his return to the team.
Considering the struggles of Gabriel Jesus and Viktor Gyokeres, the German could be a key figure for the attack in the final stages of the season, and the manager is happy to have him available again.
“Kai, not only bringing him in, I think the quality that he showed, the way he connected with the team, the goal that he scored, the assist that he made in the first half – a really positive performance.
“He can play in [all positions] I think – right, left, attacking midfielder or nine. It doesn’t change much for him, depending on the position, the relationships we have around him, and the players that are available as well. We’ll make those decisions. The good thing is that he’s fit, he’s available and he’s going to give us so much.
“He's fine, that’s what we planned, 45 minutes [before being substituted]. We wanted to start him as well so he could do all the processes before that in the best possible way, and from now on, we have to make a decision whether he starts or not in these competitions.
“For sure, he wanted to continue playing today, so I know what is coming tomorrow!
“Kai is a player who gives us so much versatility and threat across different positions because he's unique in the areas he can occupy and the way he connects with other players. He's a player who understands so well, in the league, what we want to do, he copes really well with pressure and with different demands and he's a player that is going to be important in this second part of the season.
“It's going to give him a lot of confidence, joy, energy and to the team as well because the team knows how important Kai is for us and how he can help the team to be much better and take the team to a different level. The fact that he was able to do that today after such a long time is very impressive. So bring him on board and make sure that we use him the right way because it's going to be important.”