Kai Havertz injury: Arsenal turn to ex-Accrington Stanley striker and SCHOOLBOY as replacements

Suraj Radia

• 13 Feb 2025 13:00 CST
• 3 min read

Arsenal have found themselves woefully lacking depth in attack after confirming that Kai Havertz will miss the remainder of the season with a hamstring injury.

The Gunners have already seen the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli suffer injuries that will keep them out of action for a number of months.

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And the decision to not sign reinforcements in January is set to backfire for the Gunners, with Havertz requiring surgery on his hamstring, having torn it during Arsenal’s break in Dubai last weekend.

Arsenal were reluctant to utilise their limited resources on stop-gap solutions during the transfer window, ultimately passing up loan moves for players such as Alvaro Morata in the process.

But Mikel Arteta will now likely be forced to field Ethan Nwaneri as a false nine alongside Leandro Trossard and Raheem Sterling in a makeshift frontline for the indefinite future.

Fabrizio Romano has reiterated that Arsenal will look towards ‘internal’ solutions to their problems, effectively ruling out a move for any free agents on the market.

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Arsenal’s options of unattached players appear to be slim and lacklustre, with veteran Diego Costa and former Gunners Lucas Perez and Carlos Vela the only real forwards currently available to sign.

Arteta did take academy forwards Charles Sagoe Junior and Ismael Kabia with the first team to Dubai, although both are primarily wingers and not suited to Arsenal’s current needs.

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Nathan Butler-Oyedeji also travelled to Dubai and made his Arsenal debut against Dinamo last year but the 22-year-old would have been allowed to leave the club permanently in January but for the injury crisis, having failed to impress on loan at Accrington Stanley and Cheltenham Town.

Khayon Edwards did not travel to Dubai but the forward has led the line for Arsenal’s under-21s this season and has had loan experience with Leyton Orient previously.

Arsenal took arguably their brightest striking prospect to Dubai in Max Dowman but the 15-year-old is too young to play in the Premier League and, while a special request can be made to allow him to feature, it is unclear whether such an application would be accepted.