Arsenal's Mesut Ozil reveals details of his muscle injury

Mesut Ozil (L)

Arsenal’s record signing Mesut Ozil has confirmed on his Facebook page that he suffered a muscle injury against Bayern Munich.

Ozil was criticised for his performance by the media after he struggled with the intensity of the match and was substituted off at half-time, replaced by Tomas Rosicky.

Reports emerged that the German star had suffered an injury in the first half and that forced the changed after the opening 45 minutes. Ozil, who cost the Gunners a club record fee of £42.4 million last summer, confirmed the news with a statement on his Facebook page.

“Dear friends,” he wrote. “Now it’s clear: during the ?#?ucl? match against ?#?FCBayern? I suffered a muscle injury in the second minute. I tried to give my best and played until the end of the first half. Rest assured that I’ll be back even stronger!”

Ozil has been targeted by the English media in recent weeks for subdued performances and a lack of effort during matches. He has suffered a poor patch of form but Ozil has also struggled with his fitness for portions of the seasonand his new inju ry will keep him out of action for several weeks, missing the Tottenham Hotspur north London derby at the weekend.

He is likely to miss games against Swansea City, Chelsea and Manchester City. It is a big blow to Ozil and Arsenal who still have a run of difficult fixtures that could see them drop out of the title race with poor results.

Mesut Ozil only completed seven passes against Bayern Munich.