Kai Havertz revealed that his knee injury woes caused him pain he had ‘never felt before in my life’ – but is now relishing a role in Arsenal’s run-in.
The 26-year-old has endured a torrid time since suffering a knee injury in the Gunners’ opening game of their Premier League campaign, against Manchester United on August 17.
As Daily Mail Sport previously reported, in November the German was one week away from returning to a matchday squad before picking up an issue in his final training sessions.
The forward had further rehab and made the bench for Arsenal’s 4-1 victory over Aston Villa on December 30. Yet, his knee flared up again and he was left out of the squad for the next two matches to manage workload.
It had left the north London club with concerns over the German’s long-term fitness. Having overcome a recent hamstring injury, Havertz has eyes on finally getting a sustained run in the team. He has come off the bench in their last two Premier League games and played for 62 minutes in their 2-1 win at Mansfield in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League last-16 first leg tie against his former club Bayer Leverkusen, he said: ‘I had three injuries (in) behind each other, but for me it was just tough because I never felt that pain (from the knee injury) before in my life and it just came randomly.
Kai Havertz says his knee injury caused him pain like he had never felt before – now he is hoping for a sustained run in the team
‘But I tried to go through these things, and obviously I got my support from my family. That helped me a lot during that time.
‘Having two surgeries, one after another, is not easy, but I think I’m professional enough to know that’s also part of football sometimes. I’m still young, so I’ve got a lot of years hopefully in front of me, but yeah, obviously mentally it was tough.
‘I tried to help the players off the pitch because I was at the training ground every day and I saw them competing in the games in the stadium, and for me it was a joy to watch them.’
The ordeal has given Havertz a renewed sense of hunger to make up for lost time.
He added: ‘Yeah 100 per cent (it’s given me hunger). I missed it so much and that’s why also it was mentally so hard for me because I couldn’t be there and it just gave me, as you said, a new hunger.
‘Honestly I’m so happy just to be with them (the team) again and be on the pitch.’
