Kai Havertz is the first victim of Arsenal's increased expectations

There was a time, at a different point in Arsenal’s history, when Thierry Henry was described by some of the club’s supporters as “the French Perry Groves”. The club’s greatest-ever player famously took almost two months to score his first goal in the English game and, in those early weeks, there was little appetite for patience within the footballing community.

Dennis Bergkamp, too, endured fierce criticism in the opening phase of his Arsenal career. He failed to score in his first seven games for the club, and was labelled “Hartle-Fool” by a tabloid newspaper after struggling against Hartlepool United in the League Cup. Another headline described “Bergy” as a “waste of money”.

There are lessons to be learnt from the past, then, and Kai Havertz, who finds himself at the centre of a fierce debate after just three league games, might take some comfort from the history books as he continues to adjust to life in north London. Some of the club’s supporters, it might be said, would also benefit from a glance towards the days of old.

For Havertz, these are unexpectedly — and, many would say, unfairly — complicated times. Only a few months into his Arsenal career, he seems to have already become the most divisive talking point among the club’s supporters and within the media, mainstream or otherwise.

Even before kick-off against Fulham on Saturday, Havertz was the talk of north London. On the underground towards Holloway Road before the game, this author heard a group of Arsenal supporters in heated conversation about the German. Two of them thought he had played well against Crystal Palace, while two of them argued that he should be dropped immediately.

The middle ground can be hard to find in modern football, and that is especially true on social media. After his disappointing showing against Fulham, Havertz’s public pages were littered with predictably nasty comments. “Leave Arsenal,” one said. “Lazy player,” another said. “Havertz out,” a third called.

Such unpleasantness is nothing new, of course, but it has been remarkable to see how quickly Havertz has become a polarising figure following his move from Chelsea. After all, the 24-year-old has so far played a grand total of 236 Premier League minutes in an Arsenal shirt.

Clearly, there is more to it than performances — Havertz was poor against Fulham on Saturday, yes, but he showed promising signs in pre-season, against Palace and in the Community Shield victory over Manchester City.

At this early stage of the campaign, it feels that the reaction towards Havertz is reflective of the changing demands at Arsenal. The new season has brought a new pressure for Mikel Arteta and his players, and the club’s supporters are now expecting a serious challenge for the league title. Last year, the title charge was a happy surprise. Now, it is a requirement.

An inevitable consequence of heightened expectation is lowered patience and, through no real fault of his own (aside, perhaps, from his subpar performance against Fulham), Havertz seems to have become the first victim of those shifts in attitude. Would the response to his showing against Fulham have been quite so strong 12 months ago? One can only speculate, but it seems unlikely.

There are other factors at play. Havertz cost £65 million, which makes him the third-most expensive player in Arsenal’s history, behind Declan Rice and Nicolas Pepe. That fee brings a pressure of its own, as does the reality that Havertz is keeping Emile Smith Rowe, the academy graduate and homegrown hero, out of the team.

The fact that Havertz has arrived from Chelsea has not helped his cause, either. Since 2015, Arsenal have signed Petr Cech, David Luiz, Willian and Jorginho from Stamford Bridge, a path William Gallas had also previously taken. Jorginho has had a positive impact since his arrival in January but the other three, on the whole, did not fulfil expectations overall. Willian, especially, flopped horribly.

The sneer from Chelsea supporters is that Arsenal continue to sign “Chelsea rejects” and Havertz has almost certainly found himself on the back foot, with some sections of the fan base at least, as a result. As a former Chelsea player, he must do that little bit more to earn the affections of his new club’s fans.

Havertz’s style of movement might also be playing its part. He does not explode around the pitch like Gabriel Jesus or Gabriel Martinelli, for example. His tall frame is less zippy, which can give the impression that he is putting in less effort. Appearances can be deceiving, though: Havertz is so far covering 11.9km per 90 minutes in an Arsenal shirt, compared to 10.8km for Chelsea last season.

Rightly or wrongly, depending on your view, all of these factors are currently counting against Havertz, who is still adapting to a new role within his new team. His task has not been made any easier by the fact that he has played in front of a different left-back in each of his three league matches so far this season. Once Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jesus return to the starting line-up, life will surely be easier.

Arteta is convinced that Havertz will come good, and Arsenal are convinced that he can be a key player at the club for the next five years. The size of their investment in him is proof of that. Patience is in short supply within the fan base, though, and it speaks volumes of the changing mood at Arsenal that there is already pressure on the German to make a meaningful stride forward, starting with Sunday’s match against Manchester United.