Arsenal legend Ian Wright has challenged Raheem Sterling to become Kai Havertz’s replacement as the club’s No 9 and avoid leaving with a whimper.
Havertz will miss the rest of the season after suffering a hamstring injury during a training camp in the United Arab Emirates, as first reported by Mail Sport.
Sources have indicated that he will have surgery in the coming days before undertaking a recovery programme which will extend into pre-season.
The blow leaves Mikel Arteta with just three recognised senior attackers with Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli also stuck on the treatment table.
But Wright believes Sterling has been presented with an opportunity to step up and has urged him to grasp it with both hands by ‘buckling down’.
‘For Kai Havertz to get an injury at this stage is just devastating,’ Wright said, speaking on Stick to Football. ‘You can pull a hamstring, but something has gone wrong if it’s ruptured to the point where he’s out for the season.
Arsenal forward Kai Havertz will miss the rest of the season after injuring his hamstring
Raheem Sterling is just one of three senior attacking options that could step in for Havertz
Ian Wright believes Sterling must grasp the opportunity to avoid leaving with a ‘whimper’
‘He’s played a lot of games for us, and Mikel Arteta would be thinking that he needed to get a player in January. The opportunity that has arisen for him [Sterling], this is the time where he should buckle down and say, “I have to make this work”.
‘Otherwise, he’ll go out with a whimper. The last time I saw him come on and do something in a short space of time, was against Manchester United – that’s what you want to see from him, just come on and try to make something happen.
‘The fans are hoping as well – you can hear their groans, so you feel that he’s in that place where if he doesn’t do anything positive, he can hear them coming – and that’s not a great place to be.’
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First-team regulars Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri are Arteta’s only other options for his strikeforce and the situation has become so dire that even centre back William Saliba has jokingly offered to fill in up front.
‘Willy is so funny,’ Arteta said.
‘Straight away it was one of his reactions. It’s true as well that he played there (as a youngster). He used to score a lot of goals. But probably a lot of players played there when they were younger. Can you imagine (him as a target man)?’
Arsenal, who trail league leaders Liverpool by seven points, can narrow the gap on top spot at lunchtime when they travel to relegation-threatened Leicester.
