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Gary Lineker has praised Kai Havertz for the impact he has made at Arsenal this season.

The Gunners moved to sign Havertz from Chelsea last summer in a £60 million deal. Since then the Germany international has scored 12 goals in 47 appearances for Arsenal this season and has been in an impressive run of form in recent weeks.

Havertz scored twice in the 5-0 win over his former club Chelsea on Tuesday night. The versatile playmaker has found the back of the net seven times across his last 10 appearances in the Premier League.

Mikel Arteta has started Havertz in 35 of the club's 43 matches in all competitions this season, with the Arsenal boss having regular faith in the forward's abilities. Havertz has often been selected to play in midfield for the Gunners, but he has also operated in the centre-forward position as a false nine.

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«I think he [Havertz] plays it really well [false nine], and obviously in the last few weeks, he's chipped in with a lot of goals,» said Lineker on The Two Robbies podcast.

«He's not just a nine that drops deep and just wants to be involved in the play, even though he does do that. He's also good at getting behind defenders, I think that's really important for Arsenal because of the way they play.

»It stops teams playing really high, so they have to drop off because of the fact that he will threaten them in behind.

«I think he plays it as well as anyone has played it this season, certainly in the Premier League. Particularly in the last few months, it took him a little bit of time to adapt to life at Arsenal.»

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Mikel Arteta Gary Lineker Thomas Partey Mauricio Pochettino Kai Havertz