Arsenal handed double boost as duo return to training at London Colney

Arsenal have been handed a double boost as Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac have returned to training at London Colney after being caught up in a gang war fight, according to the Mirror.

The pair were the victims of a carjacking attempt in north London at the end of July when knife-carrying gang members tried to mug the pair while they sat in Ozil’s car near his home.

Kolasinac bravely fought-off the attackers as Ozil drove his wife to safety but they were chased for over a mile as the thugs pursued on mopeds before the Arsenal players took refuge in a local restaurant.

Ozil and Kolasinac appeared to be in relatively good spirits after the initial event and returned to training within a day or so, however, the situation has since escalated with fresh threats made against the pair.

It’s reported that the Arsenal duo have now been caught up in a war between two rival north London gangs which led to fresh threats being made against them earlier this month and two men have since been arrested.

Ozil’s house is now under heavy guard from a team of security experts and both he and Kolasinac were forced to miss Arsenal’s Premier League opener against Newcastle United last weekend after being given time off by the club.

However, the Mirror claims Ozil and Kolasinac returned to Arsenal’s London Colney training base on Wednesday and are expected to be available for first team selection again soon.

The newspaper says Mesut arrived in one of his own cars while Kolasinac was a passenger in Shkodran Mustafi’s vehicle. Both men took part in training but were two of the first players to leave the training ground after the session was over.

They are expected to be back at London Colney today as we prepare to welcome Burnley to the Emirates for our first home game of the new season – although it remains to be seen whether Ozil or Kolasinac will be ready to return for that match.

Unai Emery may want to give them more time to build up their fitness after missing over a week of training and the squad coped well without them against Newcastle at St James’ Park last weekend.

Either way, it’s good to have them back on the training pitch and hopefully they can put this awful episode behind them and concentrate on football again.