Arsenal were today waiting to discover the extent of Mesut Ozil’s knee injury after the midfielder limped out of Germany’s 5-3 World Cup win in Sweden.
The Gunners’ £42.5million signing came off eight minutes from time on his 25th birthday, sparking fears he could miss Saturday’s Premier League clash with Norwich at Emirates Stadium.
However, reports in Germany suggest the midfielder, who opened the scoring last night with his 17th goal for Germany, had just suffered bruising.
Germany were trailing 2-0 in Stockholm when Ozil struck a minute before half-time to spark a dramatic comeback, with Chelsea’s Andre Schurrle grabbing a second-half hat-trick.
Ozil is expected back at Arsenal’s London Colney training ground tomorrow, along with international team-mate Per Mertesacker, who missed last night’s clash with a cold.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, anxiously awaiting a medical update on his record signing, is impressed with the way Ozil is dealing with the pressure following his deadline day move.
“There are two aspects,” the Frenchman told Arsenal.com. “First it’s what is happening externally, which you have to try to master and I agree that’s not always easy.
“Then you have how the player behaves. Does he want to be a real team player, with the same solidarity and humility as the rest? I think that’s the most important part and on that front I’m not anxious at all.”
And any fears the manager had that the signing of a superstar could disrupt the team have dissipated.
“If it’s just that he receives a lot of attention, then no [it would not be a disruption]. But if he demands that attention himself, then yes it can. But Mesut is a player who joined us because he likes the way we play, and he wants to be a part of that, so I’m not worried in that respect.”
