The Evening Standard's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Arsene Wenger has revealed that Mesut Ozil ‘felt a crack’ in knee during the match against Chelsea, but continued to play on in the second half as Arsenal were trailing to their London rivals.
The World Cup winner has since been ruled out with a ruptured knee ligament injury, with the German football federation (DFB) insisting the Arsenal man would be sidelined for ’10-12 weeks’.
Arsenal, however, are yet to confirm how long their record signing will be out for, but Wenger admits that he is ‘deeply shocked’ by the injury.
“He had a little problem just before he went out at half-time, Wenger told beIN Sports. “He had a little pain with his knee, he felt a crack.
“I said to our physio to keep an eye on him and if there was anything wrong with him, tell me because when you’re 1-0 down, you want to keep your offensive players on the pitch.
How Arsenal’s summer signings have fared so far
“I am deeply shocked,” he continued. “He wasn’t involved in a collision with anybody.
“It was just after making a pass with the outside of his foot that he injured his leg so it’s very hard to believe that you can damage your ligament with just making a simple pass and it’s very difficult to take that he will be out for a while.”
Arsenal have no fewer than nine members of their first team squad sidelined through injury, with Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta and Olivier Giroud all out, while Laurent Koscielny is reportedly suffering from acute tendinitis in both knees.
Such a crisis has seen the Gunners’ preparation scrutinised, but Wenger has dismissed their current predicament as nothing other than a coincidence.
“I am not a great believer in coincidences but this time it really is coincidence,” Wenger insisted.
“You cannot say our injuries are preparation mistakes. The big injuries we have are really accidental.
“Scientifically we are quite good. We have been hit hard after seven games. I would never have thought we would have had so many bad injuries.”
