Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker will be on German television on Saturday night, just hours after the Premier League game against Chelsea.

It is almost a month since the centre-half made his last Arsenal appearance and he is set to miss the midweek trip to Zagreb, so can we assume he also won’t be present at Stamford Bridge on Saturday?

“World champion visit on Saturday. We are looking forward to (being joined by) Per Mertesacker of Arsenal FC,” tweeted ZDF Sportstudio, the German version of Match of the Day, on Monday.

Of course there is plenty of time to get to Germany for around 10pm (BST) after Arsenal kick-off in London at 12:45pm on the same day, but would Mertesacker do that after so long out if he was taking part in the game?

It’s been pretty well documented that Gabriel, his replacement over the past few weeks, is yet to be on the losing side after 11 Arsenal appearances, and is more than capable of stepping in. With Mertesacker lacking match fitness due to the chest infection that kept him in bed for 18 days, he surely wouldn’t start at Chelsea at the weekend anyway, but maybe he won’t even be in the squad?

Even if he is, why not try your hand at asking him a few questions in German? Just tweet @ZDFsportstudio with the hashtag #FragMertesacker.