Arsenal completed the signing of Kai Havertz from Chelsea this week, but Real Madrid were also heavily in the running for the 24-year-old.

Arsenal confirmed the signing of Kai Havertz from Chelsea on a long-term deal this week, with the German international joining for a fee in the region of £65m.

Mikel Arteta’s first summer addition, Havertz has signed a deal to 2028, following Jorginho in making the switch from west to north London.

Yet reports from Spain suggest the versatile midfielder could have ended up playing in Madrid instead.

Relevo claim Real Madrid worked in silence for months on the signing of Havertz, holding meetings in which they expressed their interest in his transfer.

The two parties reportedly discussed various issues related to the move, including learning the language, his relationship with the squad, and how he’d fit in the team.

Then the move fell apart. Real Madrid had other summer priorities, and they believed they could encourage Chelsea to lower the asking price by delaying until later in the summer.

When Arsenal came in, Havertz was excited about what Arteta had in store for him, and the hesitation from Real pushed him to accept the Gunners’ offer.

At the last minute, Real Madrid made a call to Chelsea to get details on the transfer. But it was too late, and Havertz made the move across London as planned.

“It feels super exciting for me personally,” Havertz said afterwards. “I’m so glad to join this amazing club.

“I think, you know, this club has such a big history and I hope we can achieve lots of things and I’m just looking forward to meeting all the players, the staff. It’s going to be exciting.

“I experienced [the talent of the current squad] myself a couple of times.

“You can just see, I think, the family mentality that the team has on the pitch, and I guess, you know, they have it off the pitch as well.

“The team mentality in the squad is very, very high and you can feel that. So I think that was one of the reasons why it was so hard to play against Arsenal.

“There’s so many talented players and, you know, there’s big room to achieve big things as well.”

Havertz is taking the number 29 at Arsenal, just as he did at his previous clubs.