Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has confirmed Kai Havertz will miss Saturday’s game against Leeds United after sustaining a knee injury at Old Trafford.
Havertz picked up the issue during his substitute appearance in the win over Manchester United, with scans and tests still ongoing to assess the full damage.
Early fears of a serious ACL injury have been played down, but Arteta admitted there is little clarity at this stage. Either way, he won’t be available as Arsenal host Leeds.
“He’s certainly not fit for this match, unfortunately, he picked up an injury. We don’t really know yet the extent of it, I think we need a bit more time and some more tests, and after that we will have more clarity about the next steps.
“I prefer not to talk about the specifics, but he’s not fit, as I said. We need to explore that issue a little bit further and decide what we’re going to do.
“I would love to have him fresh and available, bringing what he brings to the team but unfortunately, that is not going to be possible [tomorrow].”
Arteta said the player’s mentality remains strong despite the setback. “Mentally, he’s in a good place because he’s a really strong boy, very committed. He had an incredible recovery from the hamstring surgery.
“I think he’d never had an injury before; it was the first experience. Now, he’s got a setback, let’s see how bad it is, but I’m sure he’s going to deal with it in the best possible way and, as I said, he’s a joy of a kid and hopefully we’re going to have him soon.”
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Havertz missed much of last season after hamstring surgery and his latest absence leaves summer signing Viktor Gyokeres as the only fit out-and-out centre-forward.
Leandro Trossard and Mikel Merino have both been used as makeshift strikers, while Arsenal have pushed ahead with a deal for Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze to add creativity and flexibility to the attack.
Elsewhere, Christian Norgaard is again unavailable, while Ben White will be assessed late after being forced off against United.
“Christian won’t be in the squad. With Ben, let’s see how he reacts and what we decide. Christian will be out for another week or so,” Arteta confirmed.
Jurrien Timber was also managed carefully during open training this week, while there was a positive update on Gabriel Jesus. “On Jurrien, we have to manage his load. He’s been out for a long time again and he comes from a long-term injury.
“Gabi is doing super well. I think he looks in a really good place,” he concluded.