Arsenal forward Kai Havertz has admitted he is learning to trust his body again after feeling the worst pain of his career during recent injury setbacks.
The 26-year-old is pushing to feature in Wednesday’s Champions League round-of-16, first leg at his former club Bayer Leverkusen as he bids to kickstart a stop-start season.
Havertz underwent two surgeries in seven months last year, the first on a hamstring problem sustained in a freak training incident during a warm-weather training break in Dubai.
That sidelined him for almost the entirety of the 2024-25 run-in before he underwent a knee operation in August having played in the opening Premier League game of the season at Manchester United.
The Germany international then went on to miss 26 matches between August and December before sitting out a further four games last month with a muscular issue.
Asked if he was learning to trust his body again, Havertz said: “Yes, I think so, in a way because I had three injuries [one after] each other.
“For me it was just tough, because I never felt that [mental] pain before in my life. And it just came randomly, but I tried to go through these things.
“Obviously I got my support from at home as well, my family that helped me a lot during that time.
“But having two surgeries after another is not easy, but I think I’m professional enough to know that this is also part of football sometimes.
“I know that there are so many players out there that went through stages of their career also — and I think I’m still young. So I’ve got a lot of years hopefully in front of me.
“But obviously mentally it was tough, but I got help from at home, from Arsenal, from the players, so everyone was lifting my spirits.
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“During these times, I felt how much I missed being on the pitch, how much I missed being with the boys, that feeling that you have after a game.
“I missed it so much. That’s why it was mentally so hard for me, because I couldn’t be there. It just gave me a new hunger.”
Asked if he felt those fitness problems were finally behind him, Havertz said: “I think so, I’m confident, I’m feeling good, I’m feeling better.
“Obviously things can always happen but I’m feeling 100% ready to play games. I’m feeling fit and I can’t wait to help the team in the next couple of months.”
