Arsène Wenger has said that Arsenal will follow their own recommendations when it comes to Mesut Özil’s knee injury after the Germany midfielder arrived back in London following confirmation of a partially ruptured joint while on international duty.
The German medical team said he will be out for 10 to 12 weeks following a scan on Wednesday. However, Wenger says Arsenal’s own specialist will examine the scan and follow his advice.
“When he arrived with the German national team, they didn’t think it was a lot at the start,” Wenger said. “He was supposed to practice on Wednesday but, in the end, he said that wasn’t possible for him.
“Then he had a scan and it was bad news. We have our own specialist giving us his opinion after reading the scan and examining Mesut. We will follow our own recommendations.”
Arsenal had notified Germany of Özil’s injury on Sunday.
In better news for the injury-stricken north London club, Wenger confirmed that Theo Walcott and Serge Gnabry are nearing fitness, while Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta are also well on the road to recovery.
“Theo is not too far away now,” said Wenger. “Serge has been out for a long, long time and Theo has also been out for nine months, so it’s good to see them back. They’ve worked very hard and they’re very dedicated. They are back in the group on a daily basis and that’s very good news.
“For Ramsey it’s day 13 today and I think it will be day 21 before he is back into training. Arteta may be back with the group late next week.”