Wenger insists he was unaware of Ozil 'crack' as Arsenal star set to return in SIX weeks

The Frenchman says the German, set for a shorter layoff than the 12 weeks initially feared, asked to keep playing on, while Aaron Ramsey and Laurent Koscielny are nearing a return

Arsene Wenger has denied that he asked Arsenal star Mesut Ozil to continue playing against Chelsea despite the Germany international having suffered a knee injury during the match.

The French boss recently revealed that the Gunners' club-record signing had heard a "crack" in the 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge but had remained on the field with Wenger keen to keep his offensive players on the pitch as they chased the game.

But now the Arsenal manager has revised that statement and says that he was unaware of the severity of the injury – while he also confirmed that Ozil is facing a six-week layoff, significantly shorter than the 10-12 weeks initially predicted.

"He told me [about the crack] once it was discovered on the scan. He did not tell me anything during the game, I did not even know," Wenger told reporters.

"What happened was that at half-time, just before we went out, the physio told me Ozil has a little pain with his knee, but it is not bad.

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"He wanted to go on and I told him 'if you don't feel well, tell me and I will take you off straight away'. He never did that during the whole game, and after I left him on because we were in a position where we needed to score a goal and he can deliver the final ball.

"Then after the game, he went to Germany. With Germany, they thought at the start it was nothing. We played on Sunday, on Monday he was off, and on Tuesday they gave him the day off. He was supposed to practice on Wednesday.

"On Wednesday morning, he said he could still not practice. They sent him for a scan, and in this scan they discovered that he a knee ligament injury which is quite serious.

"The only positive is that he will get the rest that he had not maybe enough after the World Cup. Although I must say, I gave them until August 11, Germany played the final on 13 July, that was a month and should be enough after a big competition."

He added: "Ozil is out for at least six weeks. The positive news is Theo [Walcott], Serge [Gnabry] and Mikel [Arteta] are back in the squad."

Wenger also confirmed that Laurent Koscielny and Aaron Ramsey are nearing a return to first-team action, having both missed international duty with injuries, though neither will be fit for Saturday's match against Hull City.

"Ramsey will be back in full training on Monday and will be in the squad for Anderlecht,” the French coach continued. "Koscielny is not in contention for Saturday but he will not need to have surgery. He finds it difficult to play with [his knock]. We've scanned him. If it goes down, short term. Achilles injuries can be long term."

The Arsenal manager also used Thursday's pre-match press conference as an opportunity to quash rumours linking him with a return to French side Monaco, declaring: "Before you ask, the story about Monaco is completely untrue, so you don't need to ask me the question."