Wenger: Ozil will be back in December

Arsene Wenger has revealed that Arsenal star Mesut Ozil will be back in action quicker than first feared, suggesting he will return in December.

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 to pursue a result.

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 lay-off - significantly shorter than the 10-12 weeks initially predicted.

"Ozil didn't tell me anything during the game. I didn't even know," Wenger told reporters. "At half-time, the physio told me he had a little pain in his knee but it was not bad. He wanted to go on.

"He will 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."