Kai Havertz has returned to us for assessment after picking up a muscle injury on international duty. He was forced off inside the first half of Germany's 1-1 Nations League draw with the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Wednesday, and the German Football Association has described the issue as a muscle strain. He has left the Germany camp, is being treated by our own medical staff, and will miss the rest of the international window. The early indication is that this is not a serious one, but for a squad already thin up front, any absence for Havertz matters.

The injury came from a challenge by Quinten Timber, brother of our own Jurrien, who was booked for it. Havertz went down, received treatment, tried to continue and could not, and was substituted around the half-hour mark of what was Jurgen Klopp's first game in charge of Germany. He was helped from the pitch by Virgil van Dijk. It is understood to be a minor muscle strain, and we are optimistic he has avoided anything long-term, though the club will carry out its own scans before there is a definitive timeframe.

The honest answer is that we do not yet know, and anyone stating a firm timeline is guessing ahead of the scans. What is on the record is this: the DFB called it a muscle strain, Sky Sports understand it to be a minor one, and we are hopeful rather than fearful. Against that, The Times has reported fears in Germany that Havertz could be out for as much as four weeks. That four-week figure is explicitly unconfirmed and remains speculation until our medical staff complete their assessment, so it should be treated as a worst-case whisper rather than a diagnosis.

The one genuine piece of good fortune is the calendar. This is the extended September-October international break, which means Havertz has a clear run of over two weeks before we are back in Premier League action against Leeds United on October 10. Even a strain at the more serious end of "minor" could heal inside that window. If the scans come back clean, this may cost him nothing more than the rest of a couple of Nations League games he was not going to feature heavily in anyway.

This is where the timing bites. Havertz has started the season as a genuine platform for our attack, the forward who links play, occupies centre-backs and lets others run beyond him, and he opened his account in the win over Coventry before scoring the equaliser in the comeback against Chelsea. His role is different in kind from Viktor Gyokeres, who is a runner and a finisher rather than a link man, and losing that variation removes a tactical option as much as a body.

The wider context is the squad we built over the summer. After the sales of Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard, and with the deadline-day pursuit of a marquee forward coming to nothing, our attacking depth is already tighter than it was a year ago. If Havertz is missing for any length of time, the load through the middle falls almost entirely on Gyokeres, with Christos Tzolis and the returning options asked to cover the rest. That is manageable for a game or two. It is a concern if it stretches, and it is exactly the kind of thin-margin situation the summer sales left us exposed to.

For now, the sensible position is cautious optimism. The club is not briefing alarm, the break buys time, and a minor strain treated properly should not derail his season. We will know more once the scans are done. Until then, Havertz is back in London, in our hands rather than Germany's, and that is where we would rather he be.