Kai Havertz has not reproduced his best form since February 2025, and recurring setbacks have left Arsenal with a complicated decision over their forward line. The club remain on course to challenge for their first Premier League title in 22 years, but Havertz\u2019s inability to stay fit is a mounting concern as the team seeks consistency in open-play scoring.<\/p>\n
Havertz has scored 29 goals in 90 appearances for Arsenal, yet his ongoing fitness problems have prevented him from becoming the undisputed central striker Arteta envisaged when the club signed Viktor Gy\u00f6keres last summer. Gy\u00f6keres arrived from Sporting CP after Arsenal paid a reported fee of \u00a363.5 million ($85.6 million), and the Portuguese forward was intended to add a consistent goalscoring option to the attack.<\/p>\n
Instead, Gy\u00f6keres has been thrust into an intensified spotlight during Havertz\u2019s absences following a stop-start summer. A minority of fans have called for Gy\u00f6keres to be sold, but that view has not gained traction at the club. Arsenal now face the practical problem of balancing minutes and roles between Havertz, Gy\u00f6keres and Gabriel Jesus as they seek more goals from open play.<\/p>\n
When asked about a return timeline, Mikel Arteta said: “I am sure in the next two weeks he\u2019s going to play minutes. I cannot tell you when,” Arteta conceded at his most recent news conference. Havertz had been expected back by this stage of the season and was seen as the primary competitor for Gy\u00f6keres, with Jesus considered by some to be the spare option.<\/p>\n
Jesus has begun to rebuild confidence in Havertz\u2019s absence, scoring twice as the starting striker against Inter. The Brazilian has publicly stated his intentions: “I want to stay and I want to win trophies with Arsenal because I came here with a purpose,” he stressed. “Then that\u2019s 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.”<\/p>\n
Speculation over potential exits and future contracts is likely to extend into later in the season while Arsenal monitor Havertz\u2019s recovery. Links to Atl\u00e9tico Madrid striker Juli\u00e1n Alvarez underline how Havertz\u2019s ongoing injuries have complicated the club\u2019s summer planning. For now Arsenal are in a holding pattern, watching how each member of their attacking trio responds as minutes return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Havertz’s fitness uncertainty forces Arsenal to weigh attacking options and transfer planning. soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6184,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,969,1163],"tags":[1081,1305,1304],"class_list":["post-6185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-premier-league","category-transfers","tag-adaptation","tag-bench-selection","tag-benching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}