Arsenal stars Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil have infuriated teammates by missing a club engagement

Arsenal players were left furious after Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez failed to attend a club media activity day last month.

The first-team squad were required to report to the club’s London Colney training base for a series of engagements to satisfy corporate and sponsorship agreements on September 21, the day after the Gunners’ 1-0 League Cup win over Doncaster.

Standard Sport understands injured players including Danny Welbeck - sidelined until after the international break with a groin problem - appeared alongside fringe members including Mathieu Debuchy, who has made just one first-team outing for Arsenal since November 2015, but the team’s two highest-profile players were nowhere to be seen.

The club has told the Standard that the pair were sick and therefore unable to take part but Sanchez played 90 minutes against Doncaster the night before and manager Arsene Wenger held a press conference that morning at which he talked about both players without mentioning any illness.

Sanchez started Arsenal’s next game against West Brom four days later while Ozil appeared as a late substitute. It is not the first time some of their team-mates have become irritated by the pair’s seeming unwillingness to conduct their share of media duties.

Several players have privately voiced their annoyance at Sanchez and Ozil’s reluctance to speak publicly, especially during the toughest period last season when Arsenal lost seven out of 12 matches in all competitions between January 31 and April 10.

The apparent unwillingness to carry some of the collective contractual obligations only fuels the belief among the players that Sanchez and Ozil will soon leave the club. Both have entered the final year of their contracts and continue to show no willingness to sign extensions despite offers to double their wages remaining on the table. Sanchez was offered a new deal worth £300,000 a week including image rights back in April but was keen on moving to Manchester City only for that £60million deal to collapse on deadline day due to Arsenal’s failure to sign Monaco winger Thomas Lemar as a replacement.

City are expected to make a fresh offer in January but they face renewed competition from the continent as Sanchez is free to talk to overseas clubs from January 1.

Paris Saint Germain retain an interest despite signing Neymar and Kylian Mbappe for £365m in the summer and given their need to offload players, a possible swap deal for Sanchez involving Julian Draxler has been mooted. Wenger has been a long-term admirer of Draxler, who has started only half of PSG’s Ligue 1 matches so far this season.

Meanwhile, Ozil has also turned down a deal worth in excess of £250,000-a-week, with Inter Milan his most likely destination at present. Any interest from Manchester United could trigger a scramble for his signature, although his wage demands of £350,000-a-week are a stumbling block for most potential suitors.

Wenger continues to hope that Sanchez and Ozil will commit their futures to Arsenal but the reality behind the scenes looks very different at present.