Per Mertesacker says Arsenal lucky to have Arsene Wenger ahead of FA Cup final
Wednesday 24 May 2017 16:23, UK
Per Mertesacker says Arsenal will be "thrilled" to walk out with Arsene Wenger at Wembley for Saturday's FA Cup final.
Arsenal's club captain could yet wear the armband against Chelsea in the absence of banned stand-in skipper Laurent Koscielny and the injured Gabriel.
Mertesacker's emergency outing from the bench against Everton was his first appearance this season after a long-term knee injury, but if his fellow German Shkodran Mustafi fails to recover from illness the 32-year-old will be one of just two fit senior centre-halves at the club.
And the World Cup winner says he will force himself to be ready for a game which could turn out to be the last of Wenger's 21-year reign, with the manager's future up for discussion at a board meeting next week.
"I haven't played this year," Mertesacker said, "but I have done this for 15 years so I expect myself to be absolutely ready no matter what comes.
"That is my mindset, no matter what happens or what is facing me on Saturday, I am going to go for it. I owe this to this team and to this club. I want to make sure I will be ready and my mindset is '120 minutes plus penalties'.
"It is completely unexpected. I made the squad because of two injuries and then I came on [against Everton] due to one red card and one injury.
"It was unexpected but you need to be ready at any time. It was good to get a run-out and obviously make my first appearance of the season after a long, long injury. I was very grateful I got the opportunity."
Asked if he expects Wenger to leave after missing out on Champions League qualification, he said: "I have absolutely no idea. I cannot tell.
"First of all, we are lucky to have him here. That was always my mindset when I came here. I was so happy to have him. He trusted me a lot.
"I can just tell you I'm looking forward to the future of this club because even if we struggle a bit, or play in the Europa League next year, it gives us a little bit of time and a breather to think about what has gone wrong last season and we do not deserve to be in the Champions League.
"Short-term, we are just thrilled to be in that final with our manager."
