‘I haven’t seen him for a week’ Arsene Wenger admits Mesut Ozil hasn’t been at Arsenal since Christmas
ARSENE WENGER is the latest man to wonder where Mesut Ozil has gone, admitting "I haven't seen him for a week."
The German playmaker has been off with illness since playing 90 minutes as Arsenal beat West Brom 1-0 and missed the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at the Emirates and then drew 3-3 at Bournemouth last night.
Many Gunners fans complained they could not notice the 28-year-old on the pitch when they lost 2-1 to Manchester City last month, despite leading the game 1-0 earlier on.
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At times Ozil has been simply sublime though, like in their thrilling 3-2 win at Ludogorets where he scored a magnificent winner and the 6-0 home win where he scored a hat trick.
He has a very respectable nine goals to his name this term, with four in Europe and five in the Premier League and six assists to boot.
But Wenger confirmed he is no closer to the first team for the moment because of his lurgy - with his side facing Preston North End in the FA Cup this weekend.
Surprisingly he has not even been seen at the training ground or near the stadium. But with managers so keen not to let illness spread throughout their squad, it appears Ozil is on quarantine.
The Gunners boss said: "I haven't seen him for a week.
"It was an easy decision [not to include him]. He is still in bed.
"He's not available and I don't think he will be available for the next game as he hasn't done anything for a week."
Wenger had to admit that Arsenal are now once again relying on their title rivals to slip up after Olivier Giroud's late equaliser saw them steal a point at the Vitality Stadium after being 3-0 down.
Wenger added: "We dropped tow points but we have to do better in the other games and hope that other teams will drop points.
"It was a physical test and a mental test for us. In the end we were frustrated not to win the game.
"You have to acknowledge the performance of Bournemouth.
"Congratulations to them but, as well, it was too uneven to have only two days' rest against a team who had over three days' rest."