Özil, Mertesacker doubts for Germany friendlies

Arsenal duo Mesut Özil and Per Mertesacker have been advised to stay in London by German national team doctors ahead of the Die Mannschaft’s forthcoming friendlies against England and Italy.

Mertesacker wasn’t involved in Sunday’s defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford after falling ill over the weekend, while Özil passed himself fit to play despite being one of the four players affected by a virus.

The German Football Association (DFB) confirmed on Monday that neither player will be present in Munich ahead of the two games, instead they have been told to ‘initially’ recover from the contagious illness at home in London.

Several Arsenal players are already affected by the virus including Mikel Arteta and Serge Gnabry. It’s expected that all four will be fine for the Premier League clash against Southampton in a fortnight’s time.