Declan Rice not the be-all and end-all for Arsenal, Kai Havertz must be used properly, says ex-Gunners forward

After missing out on the Premier League title last season, Arsenal needed to make a huge statement in this transfer window. Over the past week, they have done just that.

Declan Rice is the man everyone is talking about. He's going to be the most expensive British footballer of all time and Arsenal are getting a top, top player — one of the best in his position.

He's been magnificent at West Ham: their captain, their leader. And he was fantastic as they won the Europa Conference League. We haven't yet seem him perform on the biggest stage for a big club, and now he gets the chance.

Personally, I didn't feel like Rice was the be-all and end-all. £100 million on a defensive player who isn't a goalscoring midfielder is a lot of money. With Granit Xhaka and possibly Thomas Partey leaving, you need to bring in two top-quality midfielders. In the Champions League, Arsenal are not going to be in a position where they can rotate like they did in the Europa League last year.

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This is where I think Kai Havertz's arrival is intriguing. It's been tough for him at Chelsea, but there's a player in there. When he was at Bayer Leverkusen, he was one of the most sought-after players in Europe and played in midfield or as a No.10. He wasn't playing as a striker or a wide player.

At Chelsea, Havertz has had a topsy-turvy time. As a footballer, if you're playing out of position, you can't really give your best all the time. You don't have the instinct of that position.

As much as people will be saying he's been terrible at Chelsea, let's be honest — Chelsea have been terrible as well. I don't think he's had a fair crack at the whip because he hasn't been played in his position.

If Arsenal are going to play him as a No.8 or a No.10, I'm happy with the signing. Let's say you have Declan Rice, with Havertz and Martin Odegaard on each side. That's a really good midfield.

Attacking quality was not really where Mikel Arteta's side lacked last season. Injuries to William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu left them defensively exposed during the run-in, meaning Jurrien Timber will be a very necessary addition once his transfer from Ajax is confirmed.

He's solid, quick and decent on the ball, like all Dutch players are generally. The way they're taught football is the beautiful game, so he's good bringing the ball out of defence and making passes.

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At around £40m, it's a pretty fair price, but I'm just a bit wary when we think about the last great Ajax team that broke up. They were unbelievable and almost reached the Champions League final in 2019.

But Hakim Ziyech, Donny van der Beek and Matthijs de Ligt all got moves after that and have underwhelmed. Even Frenkie de Jong went to Barcelona and hasn't set the world on fire.

Those examples suggest it might not be easy for Timber but Arsenal had to get a defender and I think that he is probably the best option for that kind of money.

Premier League 2023/24 TV channels, live streams

UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and TNT Sports streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.

USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on Fubo. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.

Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streamed exclusively via Fubo in Canada.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.

India: Star Sports network has the rights to show Premier League matches in India. As well as an English broadcast on Star Sports Select, select matches will be available via regional feeds on Star Sports 3 (in Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam), Star Sports 1 (Bangla) and Star Sports 1 (Tamil).