Kai Havertz ‘Put in Car’ and Told ‘Go Home’ Ahead of Brentford 1-3 Arsenal
Mikel Arteta has revealed that Kai Havertz was sent back to London in a car right before Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Brentford after falling victim to a virus that has swept across the Gunners’ squad. Arteta’s side kicked off 2025 in ideal fashion, coming from one nil behind to claim the three points at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Havertz’s exclusion from the squad was a surprising one, given that the German had scored the only goal of the game as the title challengers beat Ipswich in their final fixture of 2024. However, it appears the sickness bug that ruled the forward out has wreaked havoc on his teammates too, with Martin Odegaard among those rumoured to have not been well prior to kick off. And Arteta has explained just how far he went to stop Havertz from infecting healthy members of the squad.
Arteta Reveals Impact of Sickness Bug on Arsenal Squad
Havertz was bundled home in a car shortly before kick-off
Speaking after the victory, Arteta revealed how last minute the decision was to rule Havertz out and why the decision was made to send him home rather than keep him with the travelling party. As per the Daily Express, the Arsenal boss also claimed:
“It affected players on the pitch and off the pitch. It is nothing serious. But it wasn’t the ideal situation. In relation to the symptoms, with Kai it was obvious. He wasn’t feeling well at all. He had very clear symptoms so stay away from it, put him in a car, and go back to London.
“These things happen. In this period, there are always things thrown at you, infections, viruses, so I try to delay the line-up as late as possible because you can get up in the morning and unfortunately have a surprise like this.
While Arsenal managed to get the three points without the former Chelsea star, they would no doubt be wanting to see him back in time for their clash with the ever-impressive Brighton on Saturday.
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt – accurate as of 02/01/2025
