Kai Havertz has been ruled out for the rest of the season, with Arsenal confirming he needs surgery on a hamstring injury.
A statement on Arsenal's website says: "We can confirm that Kai Havertz has sustained a hamstring injury during a training session in Dubai last week.
"Subsequent assessments and specialist reviews have confirmed that the injury will require surgery, which will take place in the coming days.
"Soon after surgery, Kai will begin his recovery and rehabilitation programme, which is expected to extend into pre-season preparations for next season."
Media outlets also suggest that Gabriel Martinelli has also suffered a hamstring injury, meaning that both he and Havertz will join fellow injured forwards Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus on the sidelines.
Arsenal are next in action on Saturday, when they visit Leicester City at 12:30 GMT, looking for a win to close the gap to Premier League leaders Liverpool to four points.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
29 | +42 | 70 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
28 | +28 | 55 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
28 | +12 | 51 |
| 4 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
28 | +17 | 49 |
Mikel Arteta will hold his pre-match press conference later this week, when he will be asked for team news and clarity on the condition of Martinelli in particular.
What has been reported about Martinelli?
Martinelli "faces more than a month on the sidelines with a hamstring injury", according to a report from The Athletic's David Ornstein on 7 February. This came two days after Martinelli was substituted during the first half of Arsenal's EFL Cup semi-final, second-leg defeat at Newcastle United.
In his post-match press conference, Arteta said the Brazilian forward "felt something". He added: "I think it was his hamstring, and he wasn’t comfortable to continue, so we have to have an MRI scan tomorrow to see the extent of the injury."
Arsenal's next five league fixtures
What would this mean for Arsenal?
With Havertz now ruled out, and possibly Martinelli too, Arsenal would be without four of their top five goalscorers this season.
Saka is still recovering from a hamstring injury and is not expected to be back until at least March. Arteta said in a press conference last month: "That’s not going to change. We have to respect the healing process and then he has a lot of stages to go through in his rehab."
Jesus was injured during January's FA Cup tie against Man Utd, with a club statement confirming the Brazilian had sustained an ACL knee injury and would undergo surgery.
What Arsenal would be missing*
| Goals | Club rank | Assists | Club rank | |
| Havertz | 15 | 1st | 5 | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saka | 9 | 2nd | 13 | 1st |
| Martinelli | 7 | =3rd | 4 | 6th |
| Jesus | 7 | =3rd | 2 | = 10th |
*all competitions 2024/25
No additions in January
Arsenal were unable to strengthen their attack in the January transfer window, to the disappointment of Arteta.
"We had a clear intention, which is always there is a window open to explore the opportunities to improve our squad with players that can impact it," he said in a recent press conference.
"We haven’t achieved it, so we are disappointed in that sense, but as well, we are very aware that we only want to bring certain kinds of players and we have to be very disciplined with that, and I think we will."
Asked if he saw their lack of activity as a gamble, the manager said: "It’s not a gamble, it’s reality. I think we have to face the reality as well that we have."