Quantcast
Home   >   News   >   [Photos] Arsenal squad enjoy team meal + reason why Ozil was absent

[Photos] Arsenal squad enjoy team meal + reason why Ozil was absent

By on January 25, 2017

The Arsenal squad enjoyed a team meal together this week but fans were left concerned after Mesut Ozil was a notable face missing from the night out.

Granit Xhaka took to Instagram to share a couple of photos from the evening as almost the entire first team squad enjoyed a meal together following our dramatic win over Burnley.

The Swiss international midfielder headed out with his team mates shortly after being quizzed by police over an alleged incident with an employee at Heathrow airport – although Xhaka wasn’t charged or arrested.

While fringe players like Yaya Sanogo, Chuba Akpom and Jeff Reine-Adelaide were spotted in the photo, there were three key names who missed the team bonding session – Santi Cazorla, Shkodran Mustafi and Mesut Ozil.

With Ozil’s future uncertain amid on-going contract negotiations, understandably fans were left panicking as to why the German international had skipped the team meal.

However, it turns out Mesut wasn’t sitting at home dreaming of returning to Real Madrid, as the Metro report that the playmaker is in fact in Sweden after being given a permission to have a mini-break by Arsene Wenger.

According to the newspaper, Ozil was photographed at a shopping centre in Gothenburg on Monday afternoon so wasn’t even in the country to attend the team meal.

Ozil is one of several first team players who are expected to be rested for Saturday’s FA Cup fourth round clash with Southampton so it seems the boss has given some of the players a few days off to recuperate after a hectic few weeks.

There are no confirmed reports as to why Mustafi and Cazorla weren’t in attendance, but Shkodran could also be on holiday as he’s unlikely to face Southampton while Cazorla is currently recovering from ankle surgery.

Here are the photos from the team meal:

A photo posted by Granit Xhaka (@granitxhaka) on

Nice dinner with the crew

A photo posted by Granit Xhaka (@granitxhaka) on