‘He’s earned our respect’: Mikel Arteta praises Havertz after Arsenal’s fast start | Arsenal

Mikel Arteta praised Kai Havertz’s contribution after the German scored one goal and one assist to beat Wolves and quash rumours that Arsenal need a new striker.

Havertz flourished as a striker in the second half of last season and retained his starting place ahead of Gabriel Jesus to lead the front line in Arsenal’s opening game of the new campaign. Arteta said: “Every player needs a bit of time to adapt and get to know everyone – the club, the relationships, the system. But I think he has clearly earned the trust and respect of everyone with the way he has handled certain situations and the way he has performed.”

The hosts largely dominated at the Emirates, with Havertz expertly heading Bukayo Saka’s cross for the opener before returning the favour to Saka to add a second. After initially struggling following his £65m move from Chelsea last summer, Havertz has now scored 10 goals in his last 15 Premier League games.

While he made no bold title predictions, Arteta insisted he had seen in his players a willingness to go the extra mile needed to win the Premier League this season. His team may have had a bigger lead at half-time against Wolves but had to endure a tricky second-half spell before Saka’s superb strike.

“The first half we were really good, really aggressive, really intense, with a lot of purpose to attack,” Arteta said. “We probably should have scored two or three goals and then the game would have been different.

“In the second half we were sloppy at times and didn’t control some giveaways inside, which can be difficult against this team in particular. After that the game opened up a bit. Then Bukayo had an incredible move to score for 2-0 and it was a different game.

“Win in any context. You will have better or worse days. The opponent will direct you to play in a specific way. Today we won convincingly, but probably in a different way because that is what the game requires.”

His Wolves colleague Gary O’Neil insisted there were “lots of positives” to take from the defeat but admitted he hopes to bring in new signings before the transfer window closes. Wolves sold Max Kilman and Pedro Neto for almost £100m this summer.

“I think it’s great how they went about it today,” O’Neil said. “There’s still a bit of craziness in there, but there’s also a lot of heart and a lot of quality. “But it’s a brutal league and we’ve got a chance in the next few weeks to be smart and get some things done. The next few weeks are really important for us.

“You take £100m last summer, you take £100m this summer – if you don’t use it wisely it’s going to get harder and harder. It’s a tough competition and the more help we can get the better off we’ll be.”