\n<\/p>\n
Kai Havertz has said he has a \u201cnew hunger\u201d for football after a year in which he suffered the worst mental pain of his career.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old Germany international sustained two major injuries last year: a torn hamstring during a Dubai training camp in February, and a knee injury on the opening weekend of the 2025-26 Premier League season in August.<\/p>\n
Those injuries restricted Havertz to just five Premier League appearances in the space of 12 months.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me it was just tough, because I never felt that pain before in my life,\u201d Havertz said ahead of Arsenal\u2019s Champions League last-16 first leg against Bayer Leverkusen.<\/p>\n
The hamstring injury was sustained in a freak incident when Havertz blocked a shot in training. \u201cIt just came randomly,\u201d explained the German international. \u201cBut I tried to go through these things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has underlined how Havertz had not previously had any precedent for injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at his injury record, it\u2019s just blank. He never had a muscle injury. And last year he had his hamstring injury that required the surgery and then the knee injury. So it\u2019s been a tough period. But as well, a lot of great things happened in his private life as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking on the eve of his return to face the club where he began his professional career, Havertz opened up on how he suffered while sidelined.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving two surgeries after another is not easy,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think I\u2019m professional enough to know that this is also part of football sometimes. Obviously mentally it was tough, but I got help from at home, my family from Arsenal, from the players, so everyone was lifting my spirits.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring these times, I felt how much I missed being on the pitch, how much I missed being with the boys \u2014 that feeling that you have after a game. I missed it so much. That\u2019s why it was mentally so hard for me, because I couldn\u2019t be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The time out offered Havertz a fresh perspective and a renewed determination to embrace the challenges ahead. \u201cIt just gave me a new hunger,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
With Arsenal competing on four fronts, Havertz is now looking forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that there are so many players out there that also went through similar stages of their career,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think I\u2019m still young, so I\u2019ve got a lot of years hopefully in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7017904\/2026\/02\/05\/kai-havertz-arsenal-position\/<\/p>\n
Manager Arteta concurred. \u201cWhen you talk about a 15-20 year career, you\u2019re going to have to go through these moments.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is a person that has the right combination of humbleness, patience, love for the game and a competitive edge, that\u2019s certainly Kai.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had difficult moments, but that\u2019s why we are here and all his teammates and family are there. Now he needs to really enjoy all the work that he\u2019s put in to see the results at the end of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Havertz is available to face Leverkusen after playing 62 minutes against Mansfield Town at the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it\u2019s been three weeks that he has total consistency in terms of training, preparation and game time,\u201d said Arteta. And we\u2019re going to continue to roll with that because we know how Kai can impact his team.<\/p>\n
Arteta confirmed that William Saliba, Gabriel, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi are all available for selection again having sat out the FA Cup win over Mansfield Town.<\/p>\n
The Arsenal manager also indicated that Riccardo Calafiori and Leandro Trossard could be in contention to feature having participated in training on Tuesday morning. \u201cThose two are a possibility that they are available, and we\u2019ll see tomorrow how we use them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arsenal face Leverkusen at the BayArena on Wednesday evening before hosting them at the second leg next Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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