Havertz success down to Arteta, Wirtz going nowhere and more

This article was originally published on Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing, a subscription service. If you would like to receive Fabrizio Romano’s exclusive articles via email ahead of publication on caughtoffside.com, please sign up for the service here: thedailybriefing.io.

He always trusted Havertz since day one and never appeared to be worried about if the German was going to come good or not. That support was crucial. He’s now doing great and I think it’s just the beginning.

Arsenal really trust Kai Havertz for the present and future and expect him to play a big part in their plans.

Also, Arteta didn’t cross any line at Luton in my opinion. I’m always for celebration to be free, not being punished when you score in the 97th minute.

So, what happened?

The player, a 22-year-old lightning-fast Spanish winger, was set to be very close to joining Leipzig in January, as they were prepared to pay the €14m release clause. Bayern really wanted him too but Granada didn’t want the Bavarians to trigger the release clause as they need his help for their relegation battle.

Bayern therefore worked behind the scenes and directly with people close to the player, including his agent and his father, and all were crucial in the story which ended when they agreed on a particular deal.

Bayern will pay €13m guaranteed and another €2m in very easy add-ons for a total package of €15m – but the player will stay at Granada until the end of the season and join Bayern in the summer.

The player completed the medical days ago and signed a contract until 2028 and this is an important moment for the future of the club.

From what I’m hearing, despite the rumours about a loan to Turkish clubs, Real Madrid’s position remains the same; they don’t want to touch the squad in January, including Arda Güler.

So at the moment, the idea is to continue to protect, support and keep him as part of the first-team squad. At least this is the position today.

The interest of many clubs is there for the future. Bayern have been following him for a long time, Manchester City appreciate the player, Barcelona director, Deco, knows Florian Wirtz since he was a kid and, for sure, they have also been monitoring him for a long time.

From what I’m hearing guys, the reality is that from Germany, nothing is going to happen. In the summer, his father, Hans Joachim, speaking to Sky, said that there is a good chance for Florian to stay at Bayer Leverkusen for next season.

Now I’m saying…