Havertz ahead of schedule in his recovery from injury as he hopes to participate in the last two games of the season.
Havertz ahead of the curve as he steps up his recovery from hamstring injury.
According to Mikel Arteta, Kai Havertz is smashing every physical measure at Arsenal’s training facility because he is determined to recover from a hamstring injury sooner than expected.
After ripping a hamstring in February, Havertz was predicted to miss the remainder of the season. However, the German has worked hard during his recuperation and might help Arsenal’s offensive issues if he is healthy enough to play against Newcastle at home on Sunday.
“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.’”
Since Havertz’s departure, Arsenal has not had an acknowledged striker on the field. Arteta had to push Mikel Merino forward because Gabriel Jesus was sidelined due to a knee injury. It should come as no surprise that Arsenal is looking to add a No. 9 this summer, with Sporting’s Viktor Gyökeres and RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko on their radar. Arteta is optimistic that the team’s finances will allow them to make this move.
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.”