THERE’S little doubt that Kai Havertz has divided fans since arriving at Arsenal last summer in a big-money move from Chelsea.

But with eight goals and four assists in the Premier League so far this season the versatile German international is certainly winning over some of his doubters.

Mikel Arteta has been adamant from day one that the 24-year-old is worth every penny of the £65million that the Gunners reportedly parted with to lure Havertz to the Emirates. But that doesn’t mean the player automatically gets a free pass on every front.

Havertz was his usual bustling self on Wednesday night when Arsenal beat Luton Town 2-0 at the Emirates. But the only imprint he made on the stats sheet came shortly after the hour mark when he was booked for diving.

It leaves Havertz sitting on nine yellow cards, just one away from an automatic two-match ban. Arteta admitted that it was something that he was going to have to keep a close eye on.

“We have to be careful. Hopefully he doesn’t get booked anymore because with the 10th we know what happens,” said the Arsenal boss.

“I am surprised! That’s a different player. I don’t know, I will have to go back and look at those cards, but it’s something to improve.

“We don’t want our players to have that many and I think we are the best in the league on that.”

Meanwhile, Arsenal head to Brighton tomorrow (Saturday) still firmly in the mix as they continue their tense three-way tussle for top spot with title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City.

Asked whether he felt different from last year’s run-in, Arteta said: “I can’t really remember how I was feeling last year! I was very excited, we kept growing, we tried our best and in the end we didn’t do enough to win it. Sometimes you just have to recognise the consistency and quality of other teams like we did and try again and go again, and here we are.

“We are showing a lot of consistency and quality to be able to be fighting in the positions that we are in right now. And now that’s it – sleep, eat, prepare well and now it’s Brighton.”

Arteta’s hopes of returning home from the south coast with three points have been boosted by the news that Bukayo Saka is winning his fitness battle after missing the game against Luton with a muscle strain.

“He was close [to being involved against Luton], hopefully he will be able to train and will be available for the weekend,” said the Spaniard.