Mikel Arteta makes Kai Havertz stance clear and sends message to trolls targeting Arsenal star
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Mikel Arteta has thrown his support behind out-of-form striker Kai Havertz. Havertz and his wife Sophia received sickening social media abuse after the Arsenal striker missed a host of chances in Sunday’s FA Cup exit to Manchester United. But Arteta is determined to back Havertz ahead of the North London derby amid yet another injury setback as Gabriel Jesus is facing a lengthy lay-off after the club confirmed he suffered an ACL knee injury. That will prompt Arsenal to try and explore bringing forward summer deals for RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko and Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams in January.
But Arteta also urged fans to support Havertz while the club has also reported abuse to social media companies and the relevant authorities and they will ban any season ticket holder or member caught sending offensive messages. Gunners boss Arteta said: “It’s incredible, honestly. We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences. It’s something we have to eradicate from the game because it’s so cynical and dependent on the result or an action.
“There is no other industry like this. When we played Ipswich on December 27, we won 1-0 and Kai Havertz scored. The whole stadium after that is singing the ‘waka, waka’ chant. That was 20 days ago. Where is the perspective? We are all responsible. We can accept it and say that’s our job, but there are certain limits and the line has to be drawn. We put a lot of attention on technology and what is next in football. What is next in football is that this should be prohibited. It cannot happen.”.
