Mikel Arteta confirmed that both Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber will miss this weekend’s Premier League clash between Arsenal and Fulham.Â
Havertz suffered what appeared to be a groin injury in the first half of last week’s 1-0 win over Newcastle United, while Timber has been sidelined by a similar problem since mid-March.
Neither player has recovered in time to face Fulham at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, although Arteta did say he expects captain Martin Odegaard to be available.
Arteta confirms double injury blow for Arsenal vs Fulham
“Kai and Jurrien are out,” the Arsenal head coach said in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.
“Let’s see how everyone is tomorrow morning, obviously we haven’t been able to train much but tomorrow we will have the final update.”
Havertz’ campaign has been dogged by injury, missing six months after hurting his knee on the opening day of the season against Manchester United. He has only made nine appearances in the Premier League this term.
“It’s been a huge miss,” Arteta added. “We are talking about one of the most important attacking players that we have and he has been out for seven or eight months [in total] and he hasn’t been the only one, unfortunately, regarding players that we have missed through injury.
“We have shown an incredible capacity to overcome these scenarios and be very, very competitive.”
Havertz has just over two years remaining on the five-year contract he signed in 2023. Asked if the Germany international is ready to sign a new deal, Arteta responded: “The focus is on availability and performance and Kai is desperate to get on the pitch as quickly as possible.
“He cannot for this game, but hopefully he is available for Atletico. This is not the time to be having these discussions now.”
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