The Athletic’s David Ornstein has confirmed Kai Havertz will miss the rest of the season as Arsenal face a striker crisis following a dry January of transfer spending.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Arsenal were extremely active towards the end of the transfer window, to no avail, as they looked to bring in another striker after injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka.
Their failure to strengthen in the summer had always left Mikel Arteta relying on Havertz and Jesus as his main options at centre-forward, while Leandro Trossard has also played there.
And now the worst news possible has come for Arsenal and their fans with Germany international Havertz tearing his hamstring on their Dubai training camp.
Ornstein broke the news in The Athletic that Havertz is ‘set to miss the rest of the season’, he wrote:
‘It is unclear yet whether the 25-year-old will require surgery on the problem but his focus is on getting fit for the start of the 2025-26 season.
‘Havertz’s expected absence adds to Arsenal’s issues in their forward line. Bukayo Saka travelled with the squad to Dubai but is expected to be out until March after undergoing hamstring surgery in December. Gabriel Martinelli is not anticipated to return for around a month after picking up a hamstring injury of his own against Newcastle United on February 5 and Gabriel Jesus faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in his left knee last month.’
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Speaking recently, former Arsenal winger Jermaine Pennant had a feeling the Gunners’ failure to strengthen would cost them in the race for trophies this season.
Pennant told Tribal Football: “Yeah, I was a little surprised by that [Arsenal’s failure to strengthen].
“We’ve seen certain games where they are missing that little bit of sharpness, that little bit of cutting edge in front of goal at times.
“I don’t think they have made their title challenge any easier by not getting a striker in.
“They’ve still got enough ability, but I think they are now putting their hopes on Liverpool slipping up rather than Arsenal catching Liverpool.”
Pennant added: “With a striker, there’d be a little bit more pressure on Liverpool.
“We’ve seen Havertz have many chances, but not put the ball away. At some point that will prove costly.
“We’ve seen what Ollie Watkins has done throughout his tenure at Aston Villa. He can score goals, he’s a threat behind, he can hold up the ball.”
