Havertz injury blow as Saliba demands step up from Arsenal 

William Saliba wants collective glory after his latest individual honour (Martin Rickett/PA)

Arsenal have been hit by an early-season injury blow with Kai Havertz facing a spell out with a knee injury.

The Athletic reports the German international is currently being assessed for the complaint having appeared as a sub in Sunday's win over Manchester United.

But fears about the problem are already so pronounced that the club is ready to reenter the transfer market for cover, the Athletic adds.

Havertz is battling new signing Viktor Gyokeres for the number 9 spot with Gabriel Jesus still out with his own long-term ACL injury. 

Any significant layoff for Havertz would again leave Arsenal light in attack, with midfielder Mikel Merino deputising there several times last season.

Meanwhile, centre back William Saliba says Arsenal know improvement is needed this season to lift the Premier League title.

Arsenal have finished second for the past three seasons, finishing just shy of champions Manchester City in 2022-23 and 2023-24 before ending up 10 points behind last season’s winners Liverpool.

The near misses have made Saliba all the more determined to help the club win a first Premier League since the 2003-04 Invincibles, and a first major trophy since the 2020 FA Cup.

“Of course we’ve finished second for three years in a row, and we know that we always miss something,” the Arsenal defender told the PA news agency.

“Now it’s a new season, we have to see what we didn’t do well enough to win the league.

“We won the first game and of course we want to win the league, and we will give everything. We have to try to be even better than the last three seasons to win this league.

We have to try to be even better than the last three seasons to win this league

“We know that the new players who came to help us, and I’m sure that they will help us to win some trophies. Of course we are already better with them. Let’s see.”

Saliba was speaking at the PFA Awards in Manchester, where he was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for the third straight season – “a pleasure” he again got to share with Arsenal team-mates Declan Rice and Gabriel Magalhaes.

“We just miss trophies. We play good, we are good, but we miss trophies, and we have to win trophies with Arsenal to be even better.”