Mikel Arteta has warned of the “terrible consequences” of failing to crack down on social media abuse and admitted Kai Havertz has been affected by the abhorrent messages sent to his pregnant wife.

Havertz missed a penalty in Arsenal’s shootout defeat by Manchester United in which Gabriel Jesus was taken off on a stretcher. Arteta refused to confirm reports that the Brazil forward has an anterior cruciate ligament injury, with Jesus due to see a specialist on Tuesday, but the emotional Arsenal manager was clear that social media companies must do more to combat online abuse when he was asked about the messages shared by Havertz’s wife, Sophia.

“It’s incredible, honestly,” he said. “We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences. It’s something we have to eradicate from the game because it’s so cynical and dependent to a result of an action. There is no other industry like this.

“When we played Ipswich on 27 December, we win 1-0 and Kai Havertz scores. The whole stadium after that is singing the ‘Waka, Waka’ [his chant]. That was 20 days ago. Where is the perspective? We are all responsible. We cannot look somewhere else. That’s a really serious matter. It affects me. It affects him and everybody that is in the industry.

“We can accept it and say that’s our job, but there are certain limits and the line has to be drawn. We put a lot of attention on technology and what is next in football. What is next in football is that this should be prohibited. It cannot happen. That’s it.”

Havertz is expected to lead the line against Tottenham in Wednesday’s north London derby as Arsenal try to avoid a third successive home defeat. Arteta said Jesus was “not looking good at all” as he contemplates a lengthy period on the sidelines for the forward that could hasten moves to bring in attacking reinforcements. Dusan Vlahovic of Juventus is thought to be a potential option on loan.

“It would be naive not to do that because there is always an opportunity to evolve the team and improve the squad,” Arteta said. “Especially with the circumstances we have. What we have to believe is that if we bring something, it has to make us better. It’s for any position because we have other issues as well.”

Arteta also confirmed Arsenal were considering travelling to Dubai for a training camp after their Carabao Cup semi-final against Newcastle on 5 February. Elimination from the FA Cup means Arsenal will have nine days without a match if they secure automatic qualification for the Champions League knockout stages and Arteta must hope a mid-season break can have the same effect as last season, when they won 16 of their last 18 Premier League matches.

“We are looking at options,” he said. “We knew that when we are involved in other competitions the schedule was going to be like this. We are prepared for that and we’re going to face it.”