Mesut Ozil: Two men charged over incident at Arsenal midfielder’s home as he misses Newcastle game
Ozil and Kolasinac not in squad for season opener after new ‘security incident’
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Two men have been charged with a public order offence after a “security incident” outside the home of Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil.
Ferhat Ercan, of Highgate, and Salaman Ekinci, of Tottenham, were arrested and charged on Thursday 8 August following an incident in Camden.
The two men, both 27, are due before the Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on 6 September.
Arsenal announced on Friday that Ozil, 30, and defender Sead Kolasinac, 26, would not be in their squad for Sunday’s Premier League opener at Newcastle due to “further security incidents”.
The pair were also targeted by carjackers in North London in a separate, unrelated incident in July.
Footage that went viral on social media showed Kolasinac jumping out of a vehicle to fight off two knife-wielding masked men.
A police spokesperson said at the time: “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.”
An Arsenal spokesperson said both players were fine after the attack, and Kolasinac posted a photo of the pair smiling on Instagram saying: “Think we’re fine. Thanks for the messages!”
But Arsenal manager Unai Emery omitted the duo from a friendly against Lyon, saying that they were “not ready” to play the match.
“It’s not a good moment to play because their mind is not now 100 per cent,” Mr Emery said. “It’s a very personal circumstance and the most important thing now is that they can feel good, they can feel safe, they can feel calm with their family.”
Arsenal kick off their season at St James’ Park in Newcastle at 2pm today.
Additional reporting by PA