Kai Havertz Diagnosed With Muscle Strain and Sent Back to Arsenal

Kai Havertz has been diagnosed with a leg muscle strain and sent back to Arsenal after coming off injured in Germany's 1-1 draw with the Netherlands, the German football association has confirmed. The forward limped out of the Nations League opener in the 30th minute in Groningen, and the scan that followed has now ruled him out of Sunday's meeting with Greece in Stuttgart.

The news is the sharpest single blow of the international window so far for Mikel Arteta. Havertz had started all five of Arsenal's Premier League games this season, scoring three goals, and had been preferred to Viktor Gyokeres through the opening weeks of the campaign. Germany head coach Jurgen Klopp had already split his 44-man squad in half for this window, calling Havertz up for only two of the four fixtures — a managed workload that has now cost the player the rest of the break entirely.

What the diagnosis means

A muscle strain, rather than a tear, is the mildest reading Germany could have taken from the scan, but the timetable remains uncertain until Arsenal complete their own assessment in London. Klopp, speaking after the draw, described both Havertz and Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala as 'probably out' for his side and said the pair could only 'be fit again relatively quickly'. Havertz's involvement in the challenge that ended his night — a high tackle from Crystal Palace's Quinten Timber, the brother of his Arsenal team-mate Jurrien — has been part of the assessment.

The timing at least softens the cost. Arsenal do not return to Premier League action until mid-October, when they host Bournemouth, and the fixture list then brings Lille in the Champions League before away trips to Nottingham Forest and Bayern Munich. A strain that might have cost three league games in a normal fortnight could now cost none.

The wider picture

Havertz missed nearly five months of last season with a knee injury before returning to full fitness towards the end of the campaign, and his durability was one of the quiet strengths of Arsenal's strong start to this one. Arteta will now wait on the club's medical read before deciding whether the Bournemouth fixture is a realistic target, with Gyokeres standing by to lead the line if the recovery runs long.

Arsenal expect to issue their own medical bulletin once the player has been re-examined at London Colney in the coming days.