A weekend without Arsenal is never quite the same as one with them but the good thing about international duty is that we get to hear a bit more from players than when they are under the Arsenal thumb at home.

Sunday:

We learned that Arsenal’s legends are better than AC Milan’sJack Wilshere made his Bournemouth debut, albeit a non-competitive one, as they lost to AC Milan. He only got 45 minutes, but he absolute rocked it.

Kelchi Nwakali was talking about not getting a work permit with Arsenal, Alisson has been mumbling about Woj getting in his way, while Granit Xhaka has continued to be the chatty little bunny that has filled this interlull with something at least a little interesting. Want to know how he hung up on Wenger? Or about his English lessons? Or perhaps some other things.

Mesut Ozil was also chatting and he told us he was happy, happy, and certainly looks set to sign a new deal with not much fuss no matter what the media are saying.

Joel Campbell was also talking and instead of being his usual understandable self, was talking about how he deserved more time on the pitch at Arsenal. It’s hard to argue with that, really.

Saturday:

Shkodran Mustafi is set to make his first Arsenal start v Southampton in a week’s time. The defender looked as if he might have picked up an injury in Germany’s 2-0 win over Finland but apparently he’s fine although he did start on the bench for Germany against Norway on Sunday.

Mustafi’s dad, Kujtim, gave an interview in Germany explaining how Arsenal, with our philosophy, is the ideal team for his son right now. Good to know.

Xhaka has been speaking (again) while away on international duty about his admiration for Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. He reckons he can learn a lot from them.

Djibril Sidibe explained in the L’Equipe that he didn’t want to become just like all the other French players who got lost in the Premier League, which is why he turned down a move to Arsenal. However, he said that he could come in a ‘year or two’.

Ahead of the Arsenal Legends’ charity match against Milan Glorie, Aaron Ramsey spoke about Ray Parlour’s work rate. The lads beat Milan 4-2 thanks to a Kanu hat-trick and a Robert Pires goal set up by Freddie Ljungberg. Yep.

In other news, Arsenal’s Champions League squad has been released and PSG defender, Serge Aurier, may have picked up an injury and therefore could miss the clash.

We also have reports in the Gunners who were involved in international duty this weekend, and they can all be found here.