Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has strongly hit back at claims that he overused Mesut Ozil against Chelsea, despite the midfielder suffering a knee injury during the Premier League game.
The French boss told reporters following the news of Ozil’s latest injury that the midfielder had heard a ‘crack’ during the 2-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
But, Wenger has been forced to revise his comments after claims were heard that he overused the German international, forcing him to now be ruled out for up to six weeks of action.
“He told me [about the crack] once it was discovered on the scan. He did not tell me anything during the game, I did not even know,” Wenger told reporters.
“What happened was that at half-time, just before we went out, the physio told me Ozil has a little pain with his knee, but it is not bad.
“He wanted to go on and I told him ‘if you don’t feel well, tell me and I will take you off straight away’. He never did that during the whole game, and after I left him on because we were in a position where we needed to score a goal and he can deliver the final ball.
“Then after the game, he went to Germany. With Germany, they thought at the start it was nothing. We played on Sunday, on Monday he was off, and on Tuesday they gave him the day off. He was supposed to practice on Wednesday.
“On Wednesday morning, he said he could still not practice. They sent him for a scan, and in this scan they discovered that he a knee ligament injury which is quite serious.
“The only positive is that he will get the rest that he had not maybe enough after the World Cup. Although I must say, I gave them until August 11, Germany played the final on 13 July, that was a month and should be enough after a big competition.”