An injury riddled November international break for Arsenal was given another unwanted wrinkle after it emerged that Kai Havertz had suffered a “small relapse” in his recovery.
The Germany international has not featured for club or country since the opening weekend of the season, when he damaged his knee in a costly 30-minute cameo against Manchester United.
Mikel Arteta is inherently protective when it comes to injury issues. Arsenal’s manager has been known to go to dastardly lengths to confuse opponents about the fitness of his squad members, routinely delivering entirely unreliable updates.
Germany national team boss Julian Nagelsmann has no reason to bend the truth and delivered a concerning update on his absent centre forward. “Kai has had a small relapse,” he revealed after securing World Cup qualification on Tuesday, before going on to add, “but he is doing well. If all goes well, he can play again towards the end of the year.”
Shortly before this month’s international break, Arteta warned that Arsenal would be cautious with Havertz as he inched towards a return to training. “Let’s see how he absorbs the load first when he starts to train with us,” the Spanish coach warned, “and when he’s done that, obviously we’re going to have to, especially in the first few weeks, keep an eye on him to manage the amount of minutes and when we play him.”
This revelation about Havertz is just the latest in a long line of fitness setbacks for the Gunners this month.
