Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli faced injury concerns during the international break, but Mikel Arteta provided an update on both ahead of Saturday’s game against Bournemouth.
Havertz has had an excellent start to the season, scoring four goals in seven Premier League games, and the Gooners were no doubt concerned that he did not join up with the Germany squad for international matches. The attacker missed Germany’s wins over Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Netherlands due to a knee problem.
Martinelli joined the national team after improving recently, but suffered a calf problem while on duty. He came on as a substitute in Brazil’s 4-0 win over Peru, but Arsenal were not worried about his injury.
In any case, with a trip to the south coast approaching, questions have arisen regarding the pair’s availability.
Arteta was reluctant to confirm in his pre-match press conference whether the pair would be fit to play against Bournemouth.
As for Havertz, he admitted that the German player had some problems and said that he communicated well with the national team about the situation. Regarding his fitness, Arteta said: “If I train well today (Friday), I have a good chance of being fit and adapting to situations.”
Mikel Arteta has provided an update on the injury status of Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard 👇
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 18, 2024
Asked about Martinelli, Arteta was less confident about the Brazilian’s fitness. The winger said he had just returned to London on Thursday and had spent a short period of time training outside. The Spaniard feels Martinelli will insist he is ready and fit, but wants to take today as an opportunity to understand more before deciding whether to take the risk. .
Arteta is known for his mind games regarding the fitness of his players, as he has shown many times in the past. It could be that they simply don’t want to reveal who can play against Bournemouth, or there could be genuine fitness concerns.
We won’t have a firm answer until Arsenal announce who will face the Cherries on Saturday night.
