Graeme Souness aims brutal dig at Arsenal star after latest Gunners injury blow
Graeme Souness has fired a brutal dig at Arsenal forward Kai Havertz with the Gunners likely to find his injury a “blessing in disguise”.
After Gabriel Jesus had been ruled out for the season in January, Arsenal got the news last week that Germany international Havertz will also miss the remainder of the campaign with a torn hamstring.
Havertz suffered the injury in a warm weather training camp in Dubai, leaving Arsenal without a senior centre-forward, although there are a number of options they could try.
In their 2-0 win over Leicester City on Saturday, Mikel Arteta opted to play Leandro Trossard in the central role with Raheem Sterling on the left wing and Ethan Nwaneri on the right.
Havertz has contributed nine goals and three assists in 21 Premier League matches this term and Souness recently claimed the German had not improved under Arteta at Arsenal.
Souness wrote in his Daily Mail column on February 9: “They spent £65million in June 2023 to take Kai Havertz from Chelsea, believing Mikel could make him a better player.
“Well, I’m afraid that’s not happened. Havertz has not got any better. He is simply not the answer for them.
“It doesn’t surprise me that Mikel has come out this week and said he is disappointed with his club’s business in the transfer window.
“The fact that Arsenal were trying to buy Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa in the last knockings of the winter transfer window tells you how badly they wanted a striker.
“If Arsenal had met the asking price of £60m-plus for that 29-year-old early in the window – and before Jhon Duran was sold to Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia – they might have got him.
“Had that proved the difference between them winning the title or being the nearly-men again, they would have felt the price was worth it.
“For them to make a last-minute bid like that tells you that Mikel was desperate. Really desperate.
“When they do get the right striker or strikers in, that club will be a force for anyone and a club to fear. Until then, where the title is concerned, I’m afraid they’re looking like a near miss.”
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And Souness couldn’t help having another dig at the injured Havertz with his absence a potential “blessing in disguise” for Arsenal and their chances of winning the Premier League title.
Souness wrote in his Daily Mail column: “I’m not so sure how much Kai Havertz, who is out for the rest of the season, will be missed.
“I watched him in the Carabao Cup semi-final against Newcastle the other week. He just kept getting pushed over and losing possession.
“Mikel Arteta has Bukayo Saka coming back and he just has to come up with different ways of scoring goals and perhaps a slightly different way of playing, while maintaining the same basic principles.
“It might be a blessing in disguise, if someone steps up and proves to be an unexpected goalscorer.”
Arsenal struggled to break down Leicester City on Saturday before Mikel Merino struck twice late on to secure all three points for Arteta’s men.
Speaking about Merino’s performance, Arteta said: “He has a sense of danger and great timing in the box.
“We were on the verge of getting to a different level of anxiety. We were composed, scored two brilliant goals and could have scored one or two more.”
After suffering his injury last week, Havertz wrote on Instagram: “The last few days have been tough to process both physically and mentally.
“But yesterday was a good day. A successful op and a win. Thanks for all the messages of support over the last few days, it’s really helped.
“I’m now focused on my journey to full fitness and giving all the support I can give to the team in the background.”
