Charles Watts has insisted that Arsenal have ‘themselves to blame’ for their current situation following a big update on Kai Havertz.
Arsenal fans were shocked to read David Ornsten’s post on X, as the notable journalist reported Kai Havertz was set to miss the remainder of the season with a serious hamstring injury. The problem was sustained during a high-pressing drill in training during their visit to Dubai, and while it is not common for teams to have such drills, the injury in itself is rather unfortunate for the Gunners.
Meanwhile, Havertz’s injury is a big blow, given that Arsenal are in an attacking injury crisis, which leaves Mikel Arteta short on options. Bukayo Saka will only return from his own hamstring problem sometime in March at the earliest, while Gabriel Martinelli has also been ruled out for a month with a similar issue.
Gabriel Jesus is out for the season with an ACL injury, and add the Havertz problem; Arsenal are realistically left with Leandro Trossard, Raheem Sterling and Ethan Nwaneri as their available forwards heading into the game against Leicester City at the weekend.
It is certainly not sustainable for Arsenal as they are still considered Premier League title contenders and also expected to challenge for the UEFA Champions League. Many had pointed fingers at the club’s inability to land a forward in January when they were anyway expected to sign a player in the front-line position, irrespective of the current issue with Havertz.
Arsenal expert Charles Watts, in his column on Caught Offside, insisted the club ‘have themselves to blame’ for the debacle and the shortages in the attack. He also made some valid points pertaining to the current situation at the club while insisting a new forward was absolutely imperative in the January window.
Watts said, “It is unfortunate obviously. You do need luck with injuries throughout a season and Arsenal have had no luck whatsoever since the summer. But the fact is Arsenal have left themselves wide open to something like this happening. It was glaringly obvious throughout January that they needed to do something to protect themselves in attack over the second half of the season.”
“They were short of options going into the transfer window and then they lost Gabriel Jesus. They should have acted then, but they didn’t and they’ve only got themselves to blame for the situation they find themselves in.”
Watts makes some valid points, although it has to be said the winter transfer window does not offer too many great options to begin with. Arsenal decided against signing a forward late in the window and also made a big bid for Ollie Watkins, which Aston Villa rejected.
The overall view from the club is probably their outlook towards their summer as they are expected to sign a big centre-forward then. Benjamin Sesko remains a big target, but Mikel Arteta’s dream signing is Alexander Isak, as the Newcastle United forward’s exorbitant price tag will prove problematic.
