Ben White admits he ‘didn’t realise’ how good Kai Havertz was before he joined Arsenal from Chelsea last summer.
Havertz enjoyed one of his best nights as an Arsenal player on Tuesday, scoring twice against his former club in an eye-opening 5-0 win.
White also bagged a surprising second-half brace after Leandro Trossard’s early goal put Arsenal in front at the Emirates Stadium.
Gunners defender White was full of praise for ‘amazing’ Havertz after the emphatic victory and says he was not fully aware of his ability before he swapped west London for north.
Asked about Havertz’s performance, White told TNT Sports: ‘Amazing. He deserves it. He’s been outstanding since he’s come in. You don’t realise how good he is until you play with him.’
Havertz largely flattered to deceive at Stamford Bridge, though he will always be remembered fondly by Chelsea fans after scoring the winner in the 2021 Champions League final against Manchester City.
He made a slow start to his career at Arsenal but has developed into an integral member of Mikel Arteta’s squad over the course of the season, helping the Gunners challenge for a long-awaited league title.
Arsenal’s biggest ever win over Chelsea sent Arteta’s side three points clear at the top of the Premier League as they chase a first league title since 2004.
The Gunners, who were knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich, face north London rivals Tottenham this weekend in another huge game for the title race.
‘It was an amazing performances from all of us,’ White added. ‘It’s important to keep going and play our best. Obviously it’s a massive game on Sunday.
‘I hope they [Liverpool and Manchester City] are all watching. We can only do what we can do.
‘We know we can score goals and today it was a quick game and it was important to put the ball away when we had the chance.’
While Arsenal moved three points clear of Liverpool and four ahead of Manchester City after battering Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino’s side stay ninth, 19 points outside the Champions League places.
Following a humbling night at the Emirates, Pochettino said: ‘I think we started the game not so well. We concede the goal and then it was difficult for us to recover from this goal.
‘I think in the first half we compete after 10, 15 minutes. We could not approach the game like we started in the first half and we didn’t compete the way we needed to compete and then when they scored the third it was easy for Arsenal to control the game.
‘I think you need to be clinical. Like against Manchester City three days ago, we were not clinical and then today the same thing happened.
‘Difficult performance because it is not nice to see your team play like this when you are meant to have full energy. After three days when you play a fantastic game against City, today we are disappointed with the performance.’
