Arsenal supporters have noticed an enormous change in Kai Havertz after he made his first appearance in nearly three months on Sunday afternoon. The German forward came off the bench in the 76th minute to help the Gunners see out a gritty 1-0 victory over Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium.
The win guaranteed Mikel Arteta’s side a third consecutive runner-up finish in the Premier League. More crucially, it punched their ticket to another season in the Champions League. Naturally, then, all eyes have now turned to the summer and the plans being drawn up for the next campaign.
But it seems Havertz - sidelined for close to 100 days with a hamstring injury sustained back in February during an injury crisis in north London - has already been quietly putting in the hard yards behind the scenes. Judging by his appearance on return, it looks like he’s been treating his recovery like an early pre-season so that he can come back better than ever before. See his match statistics below:
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Kai Havertz's Incredible Body Transformation
His supporters were quick to make note of his bulked-up appearance
Arteta Havertz
Before Arsenal's visit from Newcastle this weekend, Arteta spoke in his pre-match interview about how impressed he was that Havertz had not only quashed the doctor's expectations that he would be out for the season, but he also returned to training and first-team action having packed on a few pounds worth of muscle mass.
"There's been a transformation in his body. The last three years of his career have been so condensed that he hasn't had time to do that and this has been a window, and he really wanted to use it," he revealed, as per Daily Mail.
"The staff explained the opportunity that is within his physique to go to a different level. He got on board with that. You can see his presence and I think he destroyed all the metrics that we had in the gym for the last 10 years. All of them. Power, acceleration, muscle mass, the way that he has increased certain capacities in his body, his agility, he's been incredible."
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His body transformation was something everybody seemed to pick up on Sunday, even if they hadn't learnt about it through Arteta's praise. One X user took to social media to write: "Bloody hell, Kai Havertz really has been bulking up! He looks like a machine! Great to see him back. Despite what the loud minority will tell you, we've missed him a lot!"
Meanwhile, a second asked: "Is it me or does Kai Havertz look like he’s bulked up quite a lot?" and a third continued: "He is visibly bigger and more muscular." A fourth user concluded: "He's going to be back better than ever next season!"