Arsene Wenger has welcomed reports that Germany boss Joachim Löw plans to leave out Mezit Ozil for next week’s international matches in order to give the Arsenal star a rest.
German media reports suggest Löw will not include Ozil for games against San Marino and Italy.
That would be a boost for Gunners boss Wenger, who believes Ozil would benefit from extra recovery time.
“I got noise of that, yes. I think it would be an intelligent decision and I would welcome that decision,” Wenger said.
“But we have to wait until he (Löw) gives his selection out to see if he will get the rest or not.”
Speaking at a press conference ahead of this weekend’s game against Tottenham, Wenger indicated that Hector Bellerin will return for the north London derby.
Bellerin did not feature in Tuesday’s Champions League against Ludogorets Razgrad in Bulgaria, which Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal also missed.
A win on Sunday could leave Arsenal top of the Premier League table depending on Manchester City and Liverpool’s results this weekend.
“It’s more than a derby – this is an important game for us,” Wenger said.
“We have an opportunity to show that we have an interesting role to play in this Premier League and that we can win these kind of games.”
