Kai Havertz has withdrawn from the Germany squad for their upcoming Nations League friendlies due to a knee injury.
The 25-year-old, who was recently appointed vice-captain of his country, was due to face Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Netherlands but has been replaced by Mainz striker Jonathan Burkardt.
At this point, it’s unclear if the injury is serious or simply a minor knock that the Gunners feel shouldn’t be risked when games are coming thick and fast on all fronts.
Kai Havertz fällt für die anstehenden Länderspiele gegen Bosnien und Herzegowina und die Niederlande aufgrund Kniegelenksbeschwerden aus. Für Havertz nominierte Bundestrainer Julian Nagelsmann Jonathan Burkardt.
Gute Besserung, Kai! 🖤❤️💛
Wir freuen uns auf dich, Jonathan! pic.twitter.com/Odm9vHRVpm— DFB-Team (@DFB_Team) October 6, 2024
Arteta was actually asked in his pre-Southampton press conference whether he was tempted to ask his busiest players to drop out of international duty. He was quick to point out that players more often than not want to represent their country.
“First of all the player has to be healthy to go to their national teams but all of them, when I spoke to them, want to be part of that and it’s normal,” said the Spaniard.
“It’s a huge privilege to represent your country. They all want to be involved, they all have their role, they don’t want to lose it and we have to understand that as well.
Havertz has completed 90 minutes in nine of Arsenal’s 10 games this season and also played two full matches for his country in September’s international break.
I8Interlull!
He was such a beast yesterday. A man on a purpose, to make us with the league.
This boy is very important for the team.
I doubt anyone is sat there stressing that he is going to miss our next game. I am certainly not. Get your feet up and make the most of your break, you have earned it
It doesn’t look remotely like Jesus is an ample deputy for Havertz, which is concerning. We’re heavily reliant on Havertz and I would suspect that if Jesus could do….well….anything remotely well right now, then we’d be able to rest Kai.
I remember last October when Havertz supposedly wasn’t good enough and had no end product and people were calling him an expensive mistake.
Now Jesus is struggling and has no confidence, so it’s his turn to be blamed and doubted and dumped on.
Luckily, things can change quickly
Well played
Keep him fresh
Hope we r learning shitty’s dark arts where players are miraculously fit after missing intl breaks!
Alex Ferguson could hold master classes in that particular art, having pioneered the same during his time at Utd.
He just wants to play some uno with family and friends- and who can blame him?
Always gotta be careful when it comes to Kniegelenksbeschwerden.
Gesundheit!
Hope we r learning the dark arts from city where players are miraculously fit after missing international break..
I just rewatched the match from yesterday. I finally thought of a comparison of who Kai is becoming. He feels very analogous to what De Bruyne is.
Today I watched a referee refuse to send off Rashford for what was clearly a second yellow for a kick out tackle. They seemingly have no problem giving arsenal players a second yellow.
Yesterday, Alexander Arnold pushed a second ball on the pitch to try and delay a restart and nothing.
The refs are so inconsistent. It’s become a joke.
He was not subbed off so hopefully just a precaution, or an excuse to keep him out of trouble.