Arsenal confirm players were involved in incident in north London; Metropolitan Police say no arrests have been made as enquiries continue
Friday 26 July 2019 17:33, UK
Arsenal duo Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac are both unharmed after escaping an attempted robbery in London on Thursday.
Footage of the attack shows the pair in an altercation with suspects on a motorbike wielding a weapon.
Arsenal have confirmed both passenger Kolasinac and driver Ozil were involved in the incident and are both unharmed.
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The club are treating it as a "private matter" and say it does not affect the players' pre-season training.
Metropolitan Police were called to Platts Lane in north London, where they spoke to both players who had travelled to a nearby restaurant during the incident.
The police say no arrests have been made, as their enquiries continue.
Sky Sports News spoke to Yasmin Tahsiner, the co-owner of the restaurant, who said the two attackers on the motorbike confronted Kolasinac outside his home as he was meeting Ozil and his wife, who were in the German's car.
She said: "They asked him [Kolasinac] straight away 'give me your watch'. Then when they tried to attack him, he tried to go inside the car.
"From the other door, the attacker tried to go inside of the car as well. When Ozil drove the car, they chased them with the motorbike for 15 minutes."
Ms Tahsiner said the attackers chased the players and Ozil's wife until they reached her restaurant and that they had badly damaged Ozil's car with "stones and bricks".
She said she, as well as the passengers in the car, saw the attackers wielding a metal weapon, although they did not believe it was a knife.
Ms Tahsiner said she knows the players well and that they were OK following the attack, although Ozil's wife was the most shaken of the trio.
Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "Police were called to Platts Lane, NW3, shortly before 17.00hrs on Thursday, 25 July to reports of an attempted robbery.
"It was reported that suspects on motorbikes had attempted to rob a man who was driving a car.
"The driver, along with his passenger, managed to get away unharmed and travelled to a restaurant in Golders Green, where they were spoken to by officers.
"There have been no arrests. Enquiries continue."
