Havertz joy after knee agony

KAI HAVERTZ revealed his knee injury woes caused him pain he had ‘never felt in my life’ — but now he is relishing a role in Arsenal’s end-of-season run-in. The German forward, 26, picked up the injury in the Gunners’ opening game of the season at Manchester United and has had a torrid time with his recovery. Ahead of tonight’s Champions League last-16 first leg at Bayer Leverkusen, Havertz said: ‘For me it was just tough because I never felt that pain before in my life and it just came randomly. But I tried to go through these things, and I got my support from my family. That helped me a lot during that time. ‘Having two surgeries, one after another (one on his hamstring last season, then on his knee this term), is not easy but I’m professional enough to know that’s part of football. I’m young, so I’ve got a lot of years hopefully in front of me, but mentally it was tough. ‘I tried to help the players off the pitch because I was at the training ground every day and I saw them competing in the games in the stadium and for me it was a joy to watch them.’

The ordeal has given Havertz a renewed sense of hunger to make up for lost time. He added: ‘I missed it so much. That’s why it was mentally so hard because I couldn’t be there and it just gave me a new hunger.

‘I’m so happy to be with the team again and be on the pitch.’

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