Kai Havertz’s Injuries Are Forcing Arsenal Into a Tough Summer Decision

Scoring goals continues to prove challenging despite a variety of options being at Mikel Arteta’s disposal.

Kai Havertz continues to battle injury issues. | Jacques Feeney/Offside/Getty Images

Not since February 2025 have Arsenal fans really seen Kai Havertz in his stride.

A hamstring injury may as well have ended his 2024–25 season early—two cameo appearances off the bench were morale-boosting at best—before a serious knee injury suffered just one week into the new campaign sent him back to the treatment room.

Setback after setback have followed, and now Arsenal, looking to win a first Premier League title in 22 years and establish themselves as the dominant force in English football, are reported to be growing concerned by Havertz’s inability to stay fit.

Why Kai Havertz’s Injuries Are a Big Worry for Arsenal

Kai Havertz has been plagued by setbacks. | Apinya Rittipo/Getty Images

Mikel Arteta may insist he has no concerns about getting the best version of Havertz back eventually, but that composure may not be felt behind the scenes as Arsenal seek to establish themselves as the premier force in the sport.

For all the deserved plaudits being sent Arsenal’s way, it is hardly a hot take to highlight issues when it comes to scoring from open play—a bug which has plagued the Gunners for several years now.

Havertz has come closest to providing the answers, with 29 goals in 90 appearances for Arsenal, but Arteta clearly wanted more from his central striker when he green-lit a £63.5 million ($85.6 million) move for Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyökeres last summer.

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Havertz Injury Snapshot

• 🤕 Hamstring injury (Feb. 2025–May 2025: 95 days missed)
• 🩼 Knee injury (Aug. 2025—Dec. 2025: 134 days missed
• 🔢 Games missed through injury: 34

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Arsenal Are Top of the Table—But Scoring Issues Haven’t Gone Away

Viktor Gyökeres is still finding his feet with Arsenal. | David Price/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

Fast-forward six months and those same issues remain. Havertz’s absence has forced Gyökeres into a spotlight for which he did not seem prepared after a stop-start summer and raised more questions over Arsenal’s plans for their attack.

Calls for Arsenal to sell Gyökeres from a minority of disgruntled fans are likely to fall on deaf ears, but the reality is the Gunners find themselves in a sticky situation when it comes to their forward line.

When will Havertz return to help? “I am sure in the next two weeks he’s going to play minutes. I cannot tell you when,” Arteta conceded at his most recent news conference.

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Gabriel Jesus Fighting for His Future

Gabriel Jesus’s next move is far from clear. | Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images

Arsenal expected Havertz to be back fit by this point in the season, and the overwhelming sense was that he would be the primary competition for Gyökeres. Gabriel Jesus, meanwhile, felt like the spare part, given his own issues in front of goal largely inspired the narrative about Arsenal in the first place.

Speculation over a January exit was, and is still, common. After all, the 28-year-old has just returned from his own injury nightmare and needs minutes to rediscover his best form.

Those minutes have started to arrive in Havertz’s absence. Jesus stole the show with two goals as the starting striker against Inter and looks to be rebuilding his confidence, and the need to ease Havertz back into action will only offer more opportunities for the affable Brazilian.

Jesus has the chance to re-establish himself as a reliable force at the top of Arsenal’s team sheet and earn himself the new contract he has publicly requested in recent days.

“I want to stay and I want to win trophies with Arsenal because I came here with a purpose,” he stressed. “Then that’s it. But obviously the reality is different. Sometimes it can go [another] way. But my focus is to stay healthy and then win trophies with Arsenal.”

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Three Strikers on the Books But No Clear Plan

Mikel Arteta will have more decisions to make. | Robin Jones/Getty Images

A decision on Jesus’s future will now have to be pushed back until later in the season, when Havertz should be finding his feet again. Keeping both players alongside Gyökeres feels like an issue waiting to happen, but finding space for yet another expensive recruit to finally address their goalscoring woes may be even more problematic.

Amid links to Atlético Madrid striker Julián Alvarez, the reality is Arsenal’s summer planning will have been derailed by news of Havertz’s continued injury issues. The Gunners are playing a waiting game, watching on to see how each of their attacking trio reacts.

Only when those answers surface will Arsenal be able to look for their next move. Do they need to spend big on a new striker? If not, who do they sell? Can they afford to splash the cash on other areas of the squad before being certain on their next move in attack?

This coming summer window feels like a crucial one for Arsenal, who have been a step above the rest in England this season while clearly still having another level to reach. Without being able to properly plan their approach, the Gunners risk playing catch-up to their rivals in the transfer market.

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