'Matter of days' - Arsenal set for big injury boost as Mikel Arteta reveals imminent Kai Havertz return

Havertz had originally been pencilled in for a comeback at the start of December before suffering a minor setback during rehabilitation. Encouragingly for Arsenal, he was pictured back in full training this week, and Arteta admitted the 26-year-old was "quite close" to being available. Arteta struck an optimistic tone when discussing Havertz’s recovery, suggesting the wait is nearly over.

"I think it will be a matter of days, not weeks," the manager said. "Let’s see in the next step how he responds to that. But he’s a player that we miss a lot, a player that brings the team into a different dimension. So I’m really happy to have him back very soon."

Havertz’s importance is underlined by his contribution last season, when he finished as Arsenal’s leading Premier League scorer with nine goals despite missing several months through a hamstring injury.

Saturday’s meeting with Brighton may arrive slightly too soon for Havertz, who will need to prove his readiness before being thrust back into action. Once fit, he will compete with £64m signing Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus for the central attacking role. Jesus, who started his first match in almost a year against Crystal Palace, is being carefully managed following a long spell out. Arteta was pleased with what he saw.

"Yeah, he’s very fit," he said. "We’ve been gradually increasing his minutes, but today as long as he was okay, everybody was happy to let him go. And before we started to take risks and get him into fatigue mode, we took him off, but I am very happy."

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While Havertz’s return is imminent, Arsenal’s defensive issues continue to test Arteta’s resourcefulness. The manager revealed that Piero Hincapie picked up an unspecified injury during last weekend’s win over Everton, compounding problems at the back. With injuries mounting, Riccardo Calafiori is expected to partner William Saliba in central defence once again. It will mark the eighth different centre-back pairing Arsenal have deployed this season, a statistic that highlights the ongoing disruption. There is, however, hope on the horizon. Gabriel Magalhaes could return early in the new year, though Arteta cautioned that patience is still required.

"We have to wait and see," he said. "He hasn't trained yet, so he’s still doing his rehab. But hopefully as quickly as possible [he can be back], because we know the situation now we have in the backline."

Arteta also heaped praise on Calafiori and claimed that the Italian can forge a successful partnership with Saliba at the back.

"Well, he’s done that (played at centre-back)," he said. "What he didn’t do before is play as a full-back. So we bought him as well, because we believed that he could do both of them. Those stats are really important, especially if they’re still aggressive to win the ball. I don’t want players just going backwards as they don’t want to be dribbled [past]. So those two (Calafiori and Gabriel) have a great mindset."

Arsenal will aim to preserve their advantage at the summit when they host Brighton at the Emirates Stadium this weekend. With title rivals Manchester City travelling to Nottingham Forest earlier on Saturday, the Gunners know the importance of maintaining momentum. Arteta was full of respect for Brighton and their new manager, Fabian Hurzeler.

“Well, obviously, it is a club that I admire a lot - and what they’ve done over the last 10 years is incredible," he said. "They have had different managers, and now Fabian has come in and brought some very different ideas as well. A lot of energy, a really, really committed team, and they look very, very together. They have a lot of quality, they can play in different ways, they have versatile players, so it will be a tough match."

With Havertz on the cusp of a return, Arsenal’s squad is slowly beginning to look healthier, even if defensive concerns remain. The coming weeks could prove decisive in shaping their title credentials, particularly as competition intensifies across multiple fronts.