Mesut may be let go

eliminated in World Cup qualifying this week. The 28-year-old has looked nowhere near his best for Arsenal this term with just one Europa League goal after seeing a £60million move to Manchester City fall through. Ozil has not found the net this term..

But Wenger remains optimistic both will eventually sign new deals even though that looks overly hopeful. “I always said that the fact that we didn’t find an agreement last year doesn’t mean the player will necessarily leave,” he said. “Both players look happy here and overall I hope that the situation can be turned around. At the moment, we are not close enough to announce anything.”

Contract issues are not the only thing on Wenger’s mind, with Shkodran Mustafi now ruled out for six weeks after picking up a hamstring injury on Germany duty. With Laurent Koscielny facing a fitness test today, Arsenal could well be short at Watford tomorrow.

“I don’t think Mustafi will be back until the next international break,” said Wenger. “It’s always difficult to predict the situation because the player I least expected to lose during the break was Mustafi.

“First of all, I was not sure he would play. Secondly, Germany had already qualified so I didn’t expect him to be out injured as the games would be less intense. He didn’t play in the first game, and we lost him in the second game against Azerbaijan at home. We have to cope with that now.””