Arsenal have had a tough week due to new injuries that have occurred within Mikel Arteta’s squad, and the outside media storm that has ensued is only increasing the heat on the club.
Gabriel Martinelli was ruled out for a month with a hamstring injury he sustained in the Gunners’ 2-0 defeat to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup last week.
The state of affairs then got worse for Arteta, as Kai Havertz suffered an injury that means the German will miss the rest of the season.
Arsenal have since been criticised for not protecting themselves from this bleak potentiality by signing a forward in the January transfer window.
Paul Merson slams ‘unacceptable’ Kai Havertz injury
Arsenal confirmed on Thursday that Havertz will undergo surgery on his hamstring and won’t return until pre-season commences in the summer.
A damaging blow for the Gunners, who now have to rely on Leandro Trossard or Raheem Sterling to play down the middle for the rest of the season, but an incident that hasn’t elicited sympathy from former player and now pundit Paul Merson.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Merson expressed his frustration with the nature of the injury.
The outspoken figure said: “To tear a hamstring in training is near on unacceptable. if you stretch properly that doesn’t happen.
“I was flabbergasted by the news of tearing a hamstring on a warm weather training camp.”
Arteta would’ve been hoping for a pristine break in Dubai, returning with a well rested and ready-to-go squad.
Unfortunately for the Arsenal boss, he comes away striker-less and facing a stretch of games with a depleted forward line.
It’s difficult to attribute blame on Havertz without full information on the incident, but Arsenal fans and pundits’ frustration at such a detrimental injury occurring in training is certainly reasonable.
- READ MORE: Forget Kai Havertz, Arsenal cannot make goal-scoring excuses for upcoming Premier League test
Paul Merson believes Arsenal will severely miss Kai Havertz
While criticising the former Chelsea man for picking up an injury in a training session, Merson did acknowledge that the setback is a significant blow for Arsenal.
“He has a great understanding with Martin Odegaard and he can drop off or do a good job at centre forward as a focal point,” he said.
“He does miss chances but he gets in good positions and he is going to be a massive miss for the Gunners.
“Only time will tell how costly it might be that Arsenal didn’t bring in a striker.
“If they go and lose the league by one, two or three points then you can make that argument.
“Now the front three will be Ethan Nwaneri, Leandro Trossard and Raheem Sterling.”
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