Jordi Osei-Tutu has named three Arsenal teammates as well as two other players from outside the club who reached out to him after he suffered racist abuse in pre-season with VfL Bochum.

Jordi Osei-Tutu had barely even begun his season-long loan to German side VfL Bochum when he was racially abused in a pre-season friendly against St. Gallen.

The 21-year-old was reduced to tears and initially left the field, but to his credit, he somehow managed to compose himself and return to play the second half.

Arsenal and Bochum released statements condemning the abuse, and social media went into overdrive with support for the young right-back. Osei-Tutu spoke to Goal about the reaction to what happened.

“The support was crazy from everyone,” he said. “Everyone at Bochum and Arsenal were all extremely helpful and it wasn’t just people I knew who were supporting me, but people from around the world.

“A lot of players reached out. My Arsenal team-mates, [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang, [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan and [Alex] Iwobi. Then there was Moise Kean and Rabbi [Matondo] from Schalke. Players from all over the place. It was nice to see.”

Matondo and Osei-Tutu know each other from the youth scene in England, having faced off with Manchester City and Arsenal respectively. Matondo also initially played for England u15s, before he switched his allegiance to Wales.

Meanwhile, Kean has been the victim in a number of racist abuse cases during his time with Juventus, so he knows first hand how Osei-Tutu must have felt.

It’s good to hear that some of the senior Arsenal players reached out too, even if one of them has left the club permanently and another on loan. At least the current club captain was among those to make contact.

Osei-Tutu has made nine competitive appearances during his loan spell with Bochum so far. For our latest exclusive report from his club on his progress, click here.