Arsenal face an anxious wait to find out whether or not Kai Havertz will require surgery following the knee injury he sustained against Manchester United last week.
The Germany international missed most of the second half of last season after tearing his hamstring during a warm weather training camp in Dubai.
Havertz battled back to full fitness and was able to make his comeback before the end of the campaign but has suffered another frustrating setback.
According to Bildthe striker has ‘problems with the cartilage and loose bodies in his knee’.
For the next fortnight, the former Chelsea star will undergo conservative treatment and take a number of injections.
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If Arsenal’s medical team are able to get the issue under control, Havertz will avoid having to go under the knife and avoid a longer period on the sidelines.
Havertz’s unavailability for Saturday’s game against Leeds is likely to mean another start up front for summer signing Viktor Gyokeres, but the match is likely to come too soon for another impending arrival Eberechi Eze.
Mikel Arteta on Kai Havert injury
He’s got an injury, we don’t really know the extent of it. I think we need a bit more time and more tests. I think after that we’ll have more clarity about next steps.
I don’t want to speak about the specifics. He’s not fit, we need to explore that issue a bit further and then decide what we’re going to do.
He cannot play tomorrow. I would love to have him fresh and available and bringing what he brings to the team. Unfortunately that’s not going to be possible.
Mentally he’s in a good place because he’s a strong boy, very committed. He had an incredible recovery from the hamstring surgery, he never had an injury before so it was the first experience. Now he has a setback, we’ll see how bad it is but he will deal with it in the best possible way. Hopefully we’re going to have him soon.
Arsenal responded to the Havertz blow almost immediately by agreeing a deal for the Crystal Palace talisman and the 27-year-old sat out last night’s Conference League game as a precaution ahead of his medical.
Eagles boss Oliver Glasner all-but confirmed Eze had played his last game in a Palace shirt after claiming the England attacker pulled out on the day of their historic 1-0 Conference League play-off victory over Fredrikstad.
The Palace boss insisted Eze would start the Eagles’ first leg against the Norwegian side at Selhurst Park – also their first foray into major European football – before Arsenal swooped in with a £60million deal.
However, on Thursday morning, Glasner revealed he received a phone call from Eze, who said he was not feeling well enough to play, forcing him to bring Northern Ireland international Justin Devenny into his starting XI.
‘I’m responsible for Crystal Palace and I think he won’t play for us again,’ said Glasner when asked to confirm whether Eze was heading to the Emirates Stadium.
‘So I have to prepare the team for Nottingham (Forest, in the Premier League on Sunday) and for the second leg against Fredrikstad, and I’m planning without Eberechi.’
Quizzed as to whether Eze was feeling physically or mentally unwell, the Palace boss merely replied: ‘You have to ask him. Maybe in a few days (you can ask).’
Glasner also shared that he has never faced a situation where a player in Eze’s situation had called to say they were unavailable.
‘No,’ Glasner confirmed. ‘And I don’t want it to happen anymore.’
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