Ozil had Arsenal permission to visit Berlin, says Low

Mesut Ozil

The World Cup-winning coach says he was aware that the midfielder had visited Germany following claims he could be in trouble over a night out.

Germany head coach Joachim Low says Mesut Ozil had Arsenal's permission to be in Berlin following claims he could face questions from the club over a night out.

Ozil, who missed the Gunners' 2-1 win over Newcastle due to illness, was reportedly seen at a night club in the German capital late on Saturday.

There has been no indication Arsenal could consider disciplinary action against the midfielder and Low has revealed the 26-year-old had been given permission to make the trip to his homeland despite missing the match with the Magpies.

"It's anyone's guess whether he was partying or not," Low told reporters ahead of Wednesday's friendly with Australia.

"He has told me that he was in Berlin. I spoke to him and he said that he was weakened by a cold during last week and so Arsene Wenger and Ozil together took the decision to not play him at the weekend. After the match, he was allowed to fly to Berlin."

Low also defended his decision to call up Lukas Podolski, despite the on-loan Gunners forward having struggled to find form at Inter in 2015.

"I saw his match against Cesena in the stadium and then spoke to Lukas the following day," Low said. "The match was revived when he came on at half time. He is overall in better physical shape, but of course he has had initial difficulties in Italy.

"Lukas has always been there for us in the last 11 years. He gave it his all for the team. He has played loads of games and scored many goals. And he still has a lot of quality -- age has not taken its toll.

"He has our full support behind him. This will help him at his club, wherever he will be playing. It's important for him that he gets to play regularly and plays well."

Low also hailed the return of Bastian Schweinsteiger to the national squad and revealed he has not discounted a potential return for Fiorentina striker Mario Gomez.

"It's important to have the captain back on board. He's in very good form and has taken an important leadership role at Bayern," he said, before adding of Gomez: "We're still looking at him."

Source Goal.com