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Ozil, Mertesacker & Podolski To Miss Man City Clash

By on July 23, 2014

Mesut Ozil, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski will all miss Arsenal’s Charity Shield clash with Manchester City, according to the Guardian.

Arsene Wenger has given our German World Cup winning trio extended leave until August 11, meaning they won’t be back in time to face the Premier League champions in the season curtain raiser at Wembley on August 10.

The boss likes to give his players a four-week break following a major summer tournament and with Germany beating Argentina in the World Cup final on 13 July, the trio have been told they don’t have to report back for Arsenal duty until August 11 – although they do have the option to return sooner if they wish.

Jack Wilshere was back at the training ground last week despite not being scheduled to return until yesterday, so we could see the likes of Mertesacker, Ozil and Podolski follow suit.

However, should they decide to stay away until the 11th then they are going to be serious doubts for our Premier League opener against Crystal Palace on the 16th as they’ll only have had a few days training under their belts and will be severely lacking in match practice.

The likes of Mathieu Debuchy, Laurent Koscielny, Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez are all expected back early next week and should all take part in the Emirates Cup on the 2nd and 3rd of August ahead of the Charity Shield.