Arsenal dealt another injury blow! Kai Havertz suffers another setback in recovery from knee issue

Per the Daily Mail, Arsenal are concerned over the future fitness of Havertz, with his knee issue flaring up on his return from a lengthy lay-off. The Gunners star has not started for the club since August 17, but made his comeback as a second-half substitute in the FA Cup third round win over Portsmouth. He also played eight minutes against Chelsea in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final. He is said to have pushed himself to return but had sustained ligament damage against United, and his knee has now flared up again, with manager Mikel Arteta having to manage his minutes carefully. 

Havertz was not introduced from the bench against AC Milan in the Champions League, to the surprise of some supporters, but he is yet to reach full fitness. The club are fearful that he will not reach full fitness for some time, and that his minutes will have to be managed continually throughout the remainder of the season, and potentially beyond. He is expected to be given minutes throughout the next few weeks. 

Arteta has previously spoken of Havertz's talent, telling reporters: "If everything goes well, I think he's going to be in the squad again in the next few days.

"He trains well, he's increased his load, he's coping with that really well and he will be ready when we can have him."

He added on expectations for Havertz being high: “Yes, but I understand this is the level as well. And when a player has the chance to put our shirt on and compete for us, you know that the demands are excellence - and that’s it. Kai is aware of that.”

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Arsenal currently have just three players listed as injured - Max Dowman, Riccardo Calafiori, and Piero Hincapie - but have sustained an unusual number of first-team fitness blows this season. 

Speaking in December, when the Gunners had the most injuries in the league, Arteta said, when asked if training methods were to blame: "No, because we don't have time to train. Today [Tuesday] we've done 20 minutes, so surely it's not because we over-trained the players.

"But obviously when you are missing players, you are loading other players and there is a consequence to that, and it's a really dangerous circle.

"You have to separate the kind of injuries. Some of them have been long-term and some have been acute injuries. It's something that we are constantly looking at.

"We have played a lot of games with a lot of players missing and that puts a lot of stress, and then you get more injuries."

The Gunners face Manchester United this weekend in a huge game as they attempt to continue their Premier League title push. The Gunners currently sit seven points clear of second-placed Manchester City. Will United be willing to do City a favour? If so, it is a major test for Arteta and his players.