Oxlade-Chamberlain suffers fresh injury and will miss Euro 2016

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: Euro 2016 hopes over

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: Euro 2016 hopes over

Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has become the first definite England casualty of Euro 2016 after being ruled out for up to two months with a fresh knee injury.

Chamberlain has returned to Arsenal training over the past fortnight after initially suffering the problem after being “cut in two” by Javier Mascherano during their Champions League defeat at home to Barcelona in late February.

The player was hoping to get some game time in before the end of the season in a bid to make a late bid for England’s Euro 2016 squad, but manager Arsene Wenger, speaking at a press conference on Friday morning, admitted the player had suffered a fresh blow and will now miss a minimum of six weeks.

“His season is over,” Wenger said. “There is no chance of the Euros for him. He will be back at the beginning of July.

“It’s a big blow.”

 

Mertesacker season also over

Per Mertesacker: 'Treble dream is over'

Wenger also confirmed that Per Mertesacker’s season is also over.

The defender limped out of the win over Norwich last weekend and will not feature in the last two games.

Wenger didn’t say whether the big defender will be back for Germany at Euro 2016, but the assumption is that the big defender will be OK.

Wenger, however, did report better news on another Arsenal star, however.

Santi Cazorla was in action on Thursday night for the U21s and Wenger said he “came through it well” and hinted the Spanish star could play a part in Sunday’s televised match against Manchester City.