Mikel Arteta and Arsenal are gearing up for a major fitness boost ahead of their next fixture against Brighton as they aim to maintain their Premier League title challenge over a busy festive period
Gunners manager Mikel Arteta says Arsenal star Kai Havertz is just days away from being back in the match-day squad. The German international has not played since August after undergoing surgery for a knee injury.
There were hopes that the 26-year-old could return to action sooner, but Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann revealed earlier this month that the player had suffered a setback. Havertz has fully returned to first-team training ahead of the Gunners’ Carabao Cup game against Crystal Palace.
Asked about Havertz’s injury, Arteta said: “I think it’s a matter of days, if not weeks.” “Let’s see how he reacts to it in the next step.
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“He’s a player we’ve missed a lot and he’s going to take the team to another level. So I’m really happy to have him back so soon.”
The Gunners could also bring back defender Gabriel Magalhães in the coming weeks, having missed the last nine games with a hamstring injury sustained during international duty with Brazil.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Arteta said of defender Brighton. “He hasn’t trained yet and is continuing his rehabilitation.
“But we know the situation on the final line, so we hope to be able to do it as soon as possible.”
Arsenal will be without Cristian Mosquera, Ben White and Piero Hincapie for the match against Brighton, with Max Dauman also expected to be absent.
Gabriel Martinelli suffered a bruise in the last game, but Arteta is hopeful he will be available this weekend.
“Martinelli was a rather beaten down player and couldn’t continue playing comfortably after the second half,” he said.
Arsenal were able to bring Gabriel Jesus back into the squad in recent weeks, much sooner than expected.
“He is very healthy,” Arteta said. “We have gradually increased his playing time, but (against Crystal Palace) if he was okay, everyone was happy to let him continue.”
“When I got into fatigue mode, I put him down and I’m very happy with it.”
Arsenal enter the new year top of the table but could lose their spot at the top of the table tomorrow when they face Nottingham Forest in an early kick-off against Man City at the City Ground.
