Joe Cole suggests Arsenal forward is the best in world football

Joe Cole has praised Kai Havertz’s ‘absolutely sensational’ performance against Chelsea and believes the German may be the best false nine in world football.

Arsenal got off to a nightmare start in Sunday’s derby as Morgan Rogers fired a stunning volley beyond David Raya to open the scoring after only two minutes.

But Havertz helped inspire a spirited comeback from the Premier League champions, equalising with a precise finish past Emiliano Martinez before playing a key role in Martin Odegaard’s winner shortly after half-time.

While Christos Tzolis provided the assist for Odegaard’s decisive strike, it was Havertz’s exquisite dummy in the build-up that earned many of the plaudits as the Gunners held firm to maintain their 100 per cent record.

The result moved Mikel Arteta’s side level on points at the top of the table with Manchester City, the only other side in the division with three wins from their first three contests.

Havertz and Co will look to pick up where they left off when they return to top-flight action away to Sunderland – first, though, Arteta’s men do battle with Napoli in Champions League on Wednesday night.

‘It burns me every time I see him playing for Arsenal and performing the way he performed,’ Cole said of Havertz while reflecting on the derby on The Dressing Room Podcast.

‘He was absolutely sensational in that position and we sleep on him constantly.

‘We did a highlights reel of him and it could have been 15 minutes with the touches, the way he was dropping in, the dummy for Odegaard’s goal.

‘As a centre-forward, that false nine, is there a better player at that role in world football?’

According to Cole, Arsenal were able to claw themselves back into the game with their ‘dominance’ in the midfield.

‘Moises Caicedo being injured was a little dampener. Romeo Lavia is a good player but he just can’t seem to keep himself fit for a sustained period of time,’ he added.

‘Reece James, Malo Gusto, whoever plays in there with him, it’s not Enzo Fernandez and Caicedo.

‘I thought Arsenal just slightly dominated that midfield area and that allowed them to build into the game but there’s a lot to be proud of for Chelsea.’

Odegaard came away from the Emirates with the man-of-the-match award after scoring what proved to be the winner in the 50th minute – the Norwegian’s third goal in his last four games.

However, former Arsenal star Freddie Ljungberg felt Havertz was the ‘best player on the pitch’ when measuring his overall contribution.

‘This is why we watch football in my opinion. I’m willing to pay a lot of money to see this type of game,’ Ljungberg – a two-time Premier League winner with Arsenal – said on Viaplay’s coverage of the derby.

‘I think Chelsea are on their way, they are playing better, but I thought Arsenal were much stronger and more solid, you could see they’ve played together for much longer.

‘Havertz, in my opinion, was the best player on the pitch.

‘How he links up, how he jumps over the ball when he has to, unselfish… top, top performance.’

Arsenal return to action on Wednesday night in their Champions League group-stage match away to Serie A giants Napoli.

The English champions then switch their attentions back to Premier League matters three days later with a trip to face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

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