26-year-old Arsenal star suffers knee injury; set for time on the sidelines - Reports

Arsenal have suffered an injury blow with Kai Havertz reported set for time on the sidelines. The German has picked up a knee injury and was not a part of the open training on Wednesday, August 20.

According to a report by David Ornstein on The Athletic, Havertz is under assessment and Arsenal are waiting to find out how long he will be out of action. The Gunners are not wasting time and have already started exploring the market for a replacement to be signed before deadline day.

The former Chelsea man also suffered a minor issue in pre-season and was out of the 3-2 defeat to Villarreal. Mikel Arteta spoke about the absence, saying they were not risking him and expected him back in action soon. He said (via BBC):

"Yesterday in training he felt something and this morning he wasn't quite right, so we decided to rest him. I think it's going to be a matter of a couple of days, hopefully the weekend, if everything goes to plan, I think he will be fit."

In February this year, Havertz suffered a hamstring injury during a training session in Dubai and was ruled out for the season. The German had just returned for the Gunners and played over 30 minutes in the 1-0 win at Manchester United on Sunday, August 17.

Pundits predicted Kai Havertz to play a bigger role than Viktor Gyokeres for Arsenal

Troy Deeney was on talkSPORT this week and claimed that Kai Havertz was bound to start more games than Viktor Gyokeres this season for Arsenal. He added new signing was not match ready and said:

"Gyokeres, for me, isn't the answer. I know he's only one game in, and people will say he's rusty, but if you look at his movement, the way he was running... There was an incident when he went through and stood on the ball. I think you are going to see Havertz start more games than Gyokeres over the course of the season."

Jamie Carragher also echoed the same and said on Sky Sports that Havertz would be Mikel Arteta's pick over Gyokeres in the big games this season. He said:

"If I'm being honest, I think they go back to Havertz in the biggest games, I think that will be the case. I can see Gyokeres playing and scoring goals."

Arsenal have added Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke to their attack this summer, while signing Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard for the midfield.