Mikel Arteta has said Kai Havertz’s determination to return from a hamstring injury ahead of schedule has led to the forward destroying every physical metric at Arsenal’s training ground.
Havertz was expected to miss the rest of the campaign after tearing a hamstring in February but the German has pushed himself hard during his rehabilitation and could ease Arsenal’s attacking problems by proving his fitness for Sunday’s home game against Newcastle.
Arteta, whose side could seal Champions League qualification this weekend, is impressed by how much the former Chelsea attacker has bulked up during his time on the sidelines. “There’s been a transformation in his body,” the manager said. “The last three years in 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. 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. I was talking to the medical staff the other day and they were talking about that. For someone that is not in the team to have that mindset, the only thing he has done is raise the standards in the building because the other ones who are injured were looking at him [saying]: ‘I’m going to look bad if I don’t do the same.’”
Arsenal have played without a recognised striker since losing Havertz. Gabriel Jesus was out with a knee injury, forcing Arteta to push Mikel Merino further forward. It is not a surprise that signing a No 9 this summer is a priority for Arsenal, who have Sporting’s Viktor Gyökeres and RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko on their radar – and Arteta is hopeful that the club’s finances can be flexible enough.
“The budget is like when you plan your wedding with your wife, [or] when you build a house … [the budget] is always more,” Arteta said. “You prepare for different scenarios. Sometimes we want a player and suddenly we have an injury or that player gets injured. There are so many variables that can happen but there is a budget. There is always an idea of what we can do, what the priorities are going to be.”
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Any summer spending will not diminish the importance of Havertz, who remains Arsenal’s top scorer in the Premier League with nine goals in 21 appearances. “One of the biggest qualities with Kai is his versatility and his goal threat whenever he plays and he’s so intelligent,” Arteta said. “He will play as a No 9, he will play as an attacking midfielder and he will be super-important for us.”
