Arsenal are confident Kai Havertz’s knee injury is not serious and it is expected the forward will be available for the club’s trip to Bournemouth after the international break.
Havertz has enjoyed a magnificent start to the 2024/25 campaign, racking up four goals and an assist in his opening seven appearances of the season in the Premier League.
The 25-year-old Germany international has also netted in the last seven matches he has played at the Emirates, dating back to the end of last season, clearly thriving in his No.9 role under Mikel Arteta.
With Germany in Nations League action over the coming days, Havertz will no doubt have been desperate to carry his exceptional form onto the international stage – but the attacker will be staying put in north London.
The German national team announced that Havertz had been ruled out due to ‘knee problems’ and Mainz’s Jonathan Burkardt was called up in his place to face Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Netherlands.
The news came as a surprise to Arsenal supporters, with Havertz playing the full 90 minutes and scoring a crucial equaliser in the side’s 3-1 victory over Southampton last weekend.
According to The Sun, Havertz has been dealing with a minor knee issue since the last of last season, an issue which was still affecting him during Germany’s European Championship campaign this summer.
The report claims the Gunners are ‘not losing sleep’ over Havertz’s fitness and medical staff believe it is just a matter of ‘wear and tear’ resulting from a busy period of both club and international football.
Arsenal have also been without Mikel Merino, Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko and club captain Martin Odegaard in recent weeks through injury.
There were hopes that White could be back in contention to take on Southampton but the defender was again left out of Arteta’s matchday squad.
However, Tomiyasu returned his return from a knee injury and was introduced in place of Thomas Partey as Arsenal came from behind to defeat the newly promoted Saints.
On Odegaard’s potential comeback, Arteta explained: ‘It’s very difficult.
‘I expected still with the boot and a lot of things and he’s working so hard and is feeling good and is pushing it so it’s difficult to give a timeline.’
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