Ian Wright hopes Raheem Sterling can take his chance with Kai Havertz injured
The former Gunner fears Sterling could ‘go out with a whimper’ unless the forward makes a success of his Arsenal loan.
Ian Wright fears Raheem Sterling could “go out with a whimper” unless the forward finds a way to make his Arsenal loan a success and steps up following Kai Havertz’s “devastating” injury.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are seven points behind leaders Liverpool in the Premier League title race and have seen hopes of catching them dented by some key attacking injuries.
Bukayo Saka has been out since December with a hamstring issue and Gabriel Jesus last month saw his campaign brought to a premature end by an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Arsenal tried to sign Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins during a fruitless winter window that been followed by reports that Havertz suffered a season-ending hamstring tear during the club’s warm-weather camp in Dubai.
The club have yet to confirm the injury to their top scorer, who has scored 15 goals in 34 matches in all competitions this term.
Arsenal great Wright said on the ‘Stick to Football’ podcast: “For Havertz to get it at this stage is devastating for him.
“You can pull a hamstring and that but something’s gone wrong where it’s ruptured to the point where he’s out for the season.
“He has played a lot of games for us and again you look at Arsenal and this is why I suppose with Mikel he’ll probably be thinking (he needed that attacker in). Without a doubt.”
Gabriel Martinelli is another attacking injury concern after the Brazil international limped off in last week’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg loss at Newcastle.
It leaves Leandro Trossard, Ethan Nwaneri and Sterling as Arsenal’s only recognised forward players ahead of Saturday’s Premier League trip to Leicester.
The latter is someone Wright is hoping will step up after making an underwhelming start to his season-long loan from Chelsea, scoring just once in 18 appearances to date.
“He does play up front but I don’t know what to say with Raheem,” Wright said.
“The opportunity that’s arose for him, I thought this is the time where he would have went (sic) ‘wow, OK, I’ve left (Manchester) City, I’ve gone to Chelsea, it’s not gone right but Arsenal, who are trying to challenge for it, have come in for me’.
“I thought that this would have been, for whatever is happening, (time for) him to buckle down and say ‘right, I’m going to make this work, I have to make this work’. Or else, he’s going to go out with a whimper.”
Put to Wright that Havertz’s injury could give Sterling a chance and that it looks like a now or never situation, he said: “Exactly.
“The last time I saw him really 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 and make something happen.
“You’re hoping (he can do something) and I think the fans are hoping as well because as soon as he gets it and he comes back, you can hear their groans.
“So, you just feel like he’s in that place where if he doesn’t do something positive, he knows that it’s coming, and I think that’s not a good place to be.”
