Mikel Arteta shares how Kai Havertz is now feeling in wake of his knee injury as request made by Arsenal boss

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has shed some light on Kai Havertz’s situation in the wake of his knee injury.

The Gunners have been handed a blow in the shape of Kai Havertz being set for a spell on the sidelines after suffering an injury.

Havertz missed Arsenal’s opening training session ahead of the clash against Leeds United, as did Ben White and Christian Norgaard.

Arteta, speaking at his pre-match press conference, shared how Havertz is currently feeling from a mental perspective and replied when asked about a potential timeframe.

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Arsenal forward Kai Havertz is in a ‘good place’ mentally

While Arteta confirmed that Havertz won’t be available tomorrow, he admitted Arsenal needed more time to figure out the severity of the injury.

“Well, he’s certainly not fit, and we don’t really know the extent of it,” he said, as per football.london. “We need some more time and more tests.

“I prefer not to talk about the specifics. We will decide further about what we’re going to do.

“I don’t know, the reality is he’s not available for tomorrow.”

However, Arteta could confirm that Havertz was in a good place mentally.

He said: “Well, mentally, he’s in a good place. Strong, committed and he had an incredible recovery.

“Now he’s got a setback, let’s see how bad it is.”

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Is Eberechi Eze a direct replacement for Kai Havertz?

Although Arsenal moved quickly to bring Eberechi Eze in after Havertz’s injury, he is not expected to be a direct replacement for Havertz.

The Athletic’s Arsenal expert James McNicholas explained the reasoning behind Arsenal’s signing of Eze earlier this week.

“Eze is not a direct replacement for Havertz,” said McNicholas.

“But his signing would potentially free up the likes of Mikel Merino and Leandro Trossard to fill in at centre-forward until the Germany international returns.”