Havertz to be assessed amid fears he could miss rest of season

Arsenal are assessing striker Kai Havertz after he suffered a muscle injury on the team's Dubai training camp.

There are fears that the 25-year-old has torn his hamstring and could miss the rest of the season.

The Athletic have reported that it is unclear if he will need surgery but report that his season is likely to be over, external.

The BBC has not yet verified these details and Arsenal have not released any statement.

Manager Mikel Arteta will be asked about the extent of the injury at Friday's news conference before his side take on Leicester City on Saturday.

Havertz has made 34 appearances across all competitions this season and is the club's top scorer with 15 goals and five assists.

The Gunners are already missing forward players Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka through hamstring injuries and striker Gabriel Jesus is out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury.

The addition of Havertz to that injury list would leave Arteta seriously short of goal scorers after the club were unable to sign attacking reinforcements in the January transfer window. The Spanish boss said he was "disappointed" with the lack of activity with an offer for Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins rejected.

Rumours linking them to Newcastle's Alexander Isak, Wolves' Matheus Cunha, Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko and Brighton's Evan Ferguson went nowhere.

Criticism had already been levelled at Arsenal even before these injury problems with many pundits and fans suggesting they needed a striker to maintain hopes of competing for a trophy.

Arteta said last week that Havertz might have to start every game for the rest of the season, adding that his other options to play in the position would be wingers Leandro Trossard, Raheem Sterling and Ethan Nwaneri.

Arsenal flew out for warm-weather training last Thursday after being knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Newcastle in the semi-final. They were not involved in this weekend's FA Cup fixtures following their third-round defeat by Manchester United.

Last season, after a similar break, Arsenal went on to win 16 of their next 18 games.

They currently sit second in the Premier League, six points adrift of leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.