Kai Havertz is set to miss the rest of the season due to a hamstring injury he suffered during Arsenal's training camp in Dubai. After Gabriel Jesus ruptured his ACL, Havertz became the Gunners' only natural option at striker. They failed to bring in a new forward during the January transfer window, a decision that has now spectacularly backfired. Havertz picked up his issue during a session earlier this week in Dubai, where Mikel Arteta has taken his side on a warm-weather training camp. The Gunners currently sit six points behind Liverpool in the Premier League, with Havertz's injury a huge blow to their hopes of beating the Reds to the title.
According to The Athletic, it has now been confirmed that Havertz has suffered a torn hamstring. At this point, it is unclear whether the 25-year-old will require surgery but his focus is on getting fit for the start of the 2025-26 season. It is a bitter blow for Havertz, who had been available for almost every game this season, scored 15 goals and notching five assists in 34 appearances across all competitions. Havertz's injury leaves Arteta with a huge headache for the second-half of the season.
He will now likely be forced to deploy one of Leandro Trossard, Ethan Nwaneri and Raheem Sterling in the centre forward role. Should the Arsenal boss use players from the Under-21s, striker Nathan Butler-Oyedeji and winger Ismeal Kabia would be the most likely options. Arsenal did make a limited move to bring in a new forward following Jesus' injury against Manchester United in the FA Cup. They quickly ditched a pursuit of Newcastle star Alexander Isak.
The Gunners then saw a £60million bid for Ollie Watkins rejected by Aston Villa, with Arsenal chiefs instead opting to shelve their move for a striker until the summer. Arteta has just a few days to find a replacement for Havertz before taking his side to struggling Leicester on Saturday. Arsenal and Havertz are yet to publicly comment on his injury or his prognosis. Speaking before his side's Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle, Arteta hailed Havertz and insisted it was not a 'gamble' to bank on the German remaining fit for the rest of the season.
"Kai has played so many games, and been so important when other players, some big players as well, were available. So it’s not because a player is not coming into his position that he’s going to be more important," he said. "Now I focus on the number that I have, how to maximise them, how to make the best out of them. With all the problems we have already had, we are in February, and I think it’s remarkable what the team has done, so I have full faith in them.
"It’s not a gamble, it’s reality. We have to face the reality of what we have. We have the players that we have, some of them are on loan, we have never had a squad of 35, 40, 45 players. So many other clubs have 45 players on their list, we don’t have that size at the moment. That’s our reality. "We have had to do so much in the last few years, that’s where we are. We are going to have to evolve there as well, and have more and have more players from the academy, and the ones that are here to be fitter longer. That is a job that’s permanent. It keeps evolving and we need to be on our toes.
"We had a clear intention which is always there is a window open to explore opportunities to improve our squad with players that can impact it. We haven’t achieved it so we are disappointed in that sense but as well we are very aware that we only want to bring in certain kinds of players and we have to be very disciplined with that as well, and I think that we were.". Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
