Mesut Özil unlikely to play again this year

Mesut Özil has been ruled out for between ten and 12 weeks with a partial knee ligament tear which he suffered during Arsenal’s 2-0 loss to Chelsea on Sunday.

The Germany midfielder played on through the pain to complete the 90 minutes and he reported the problem to Arsenal’s medical staff after the game. It did not seem overly serious at the time.

Özil travelled to Germany on Tuesday to link up with his national team ahead of their Euro 2016 qualifiers against Poland and the Republic of Ireland, with Arsenal having informed the German Federation [DFB] about the injury. The club told the Germans to exercise caution and check on the problem.

Accordingly, Özil was sent for a scan in Munich on Wednesday and the severity of the injury became clear. The DFB announced that he had suffered a “partial lateral ligament tear in the left knee” and would be “out for 10-12 weeks.”


Özil will now return to London in order for Arsenal’s medics to examine him fully and determine the best course of action in terms of his rehabilitation. Özil has a close relationship with Dr Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt, the Germany doctor and, in the past, he has liked to be treated by him.

The DFB’s head of communications, Jens Grittner, had made it clear that Ozil had travelled with the problem and the organisation reinforced the point in their statement. “Özil complained about pain in his left knee when he arrived in Frankfurt on Tuesday,” they said.

Özil, who missed six weeks towards the end of last season with a hamstring injury before recovering to play his part in Germany’s World Cup triumph, joins a lengthy injury list at Arsenal.