Arsene Wenger has revealed that three Arsenal players won’t be going on international duty for their respective countries.

With the next set of 2018 World Cup qualifiers taking place over the next week, Wenger revealed that Laurent Koscielny, Mesut Ozil and Danny Welbeck won’t be able to represent their respective countries because of injury.

“We cannot do anything about [the international break] and let’s hope that the players come back in good shape,” said the boss.

“Some players will not go on the international break.

“Laurent Koscielny, because he has an Achilles problem, Mesut Ozil because he has an inflammation of his knee and Danny Welbeck as well because he’s not fit.”

Koscielny’s ongoing Achilles problem kept him out of Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Brighton on Sunday. The centre-back therefore misses France’s World Cup qualifiers against Bulgaria (7 October) and Belarus (10 October).

Ozil’s inflamed knee is also a concern considering he’d just returned from this same problem and we were under the impression he was fit. The playmaker missed the trip to Chelsea on 17 September and then came on for seven minutes against West Brom. However, he was missing from the squad again when it came to facing the Seagulls at the weekend.

The 28-year-old will therefore miss Germany’s World Cup qualifiers against Northern Ireland (5 October) and Azerbaijan (8 October). Although he wasn’t called up anyway, which indicates that Joachim Löw had an inkling that the playmaker wouldn’t be fit.

danny welbeck chelsea
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 17: Danny Welbeck of Arsenal attempts to get away from Cesc Fabregas of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on September 17, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Most figured out that Welbz wasn’t going to play for England for their clashes against Slovenia (5 October) and Lithuania (8 October) as he picked up his groin injury at Stamford Bridge and, unlike Kos, didn’t receive a call-up as a result.

The striker’s not due back until 14 October when Arsenal face Watford and given his injury proneness, Wenger probably won’t want to rush him back.