Arsenal will be worried about Kai Havertz after the German was forced to pull out of international duty after picking up an injury
Kai Havertz is an injury concern for Arsenal after being forced to leave Germany’s national team camp. It comes after the forward suffered a hamstring injury in the first half of Thursday night’s Nations League draw against the Netherlands.
Havertz’s involvement lasted just 30 minutes, when Quinten Timber – the sibling of Havertz’s Arsenal colleague, Jurrien – collided with him in a mistimed challenge. The 27-year-old stayed down and received treatment from Germany’s medical team before being replaced by Younes Ebnoutalib.
The Gunners will now be hoping that Havertz returns for Arsenal’s next fixture at home to Leeds United on October 10. The Athletic report that there is optimism the issue sustained by Havertz is not serious, but the forward has been forced to return to north London for an assessment.
The news is of huge concern to Gunners boss Mikel Arteta. Not only did he contribute to the Arsenal’s Premier League success last season, but he also netted in the Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
Since his switch from Chelsea, Havertz has recorded 39 goals across 118 appearances in all competitions. The attacker has furthermore scored 25 goals in 63 caps for his nation
Klopp spoke to radio network RTL about injuries to Havertz and Bayern Munich forward Jamal Musiala, who pulled out of the game in the warm-up. He said: “At the moment, both are on the MRI [scans].
“Of course, that’s not great now. I just hope this is nothing bad. The boys are probably out for us, but hopefully then also relatively quickly available again.”
The German Football Association has now released a statement confirming Havertz “suffered a muscle strain”.
Havertz has a history of long-term injury problems, and since the start of the 2024/25 season, the ex-Chelsea ace has missed over 50 matches due to injuries. Just last season, Havertz picked up an injury in August and didn’t return until the turn of the year, meaning Arsenal fans have every right to be concerned about the state of their No.29.
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Considering the Gunners have struggled for goals at times this season, including last weekend’s 3-0 thumping away to Brighton, Havertz picking up any form of serious injury would be a major blow. The good news is, they do have options, but it would require leaning on Viktor Gyokeres more than Arteta probably wants to.
The Swede is yet to start a Premier League match this season, and has been treated to just two cameo appearances off the bench.
Gyokeres did start both matches outside the Premier League, but the ex-Sporting striker didn’t score in either the League Cup or Champions League wins over Ipswich Town and Napoli, respectively.