Mikel Arteta has clarified the nature of Kai Havertz’s latest setback, confirming the forward is dealing with a hamstring issue after his long injury lay off.
Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Kai Havertz is sidelined with a hamstring injury, explaining that the issue emerged after the forward’s return from a lengthy lay off.
Havertz has been out since 11 February after suffering a setback shortly after coming back from a serious knee problem that ruled him out for most of the season. The 24-year-old has managed just 158 Premier League minutes and 253 in total this campaign, yet has still contributed two goals and two assists, averaging a goal or assist every 63 minutes.
Arteta revealed that Havertz could return sooner than initially expected, with the injury supposed to keep him out for a month. “Kai is the other one that again, for the weekend is a possibility, so looking forward to having him in the squad,” Arteta said.
Asked whether the problem was predictable after such a long absence, Arteta said, “No, he was really good.
“The last game against Sunderland at home, he finished the game; we’d planned to play sixty to seventy minutes, but he was good. But then, post-game, he had certain symptoms. It doesn’t seem to be something very, very important, but enough to bring him down.
“When you look at his load, he didn’t do almost nothing in 11 months, and then he starts to play games. Obviously, the load is going to spike, and when that happens, sometimes the body reacts. And even though Kai wants to deny it, and we all want to deny it, we need to really manage that really well.”
Pressed on the exact nature of the injury, Arteta replied, “In the hamstring.”