Wenger hits out at Paul Scholes following Mesut Ozil criticism

Arsene Wenger has hit back at TV pundit Paul Scholes and told him: “You would have loved to play with Mesut Ozil".

Former Manchester United midfielder Scholes has been scathing about Arsenal’s £42million star and claimed Ozil took “the easy option” by moving to the Emirates.

Scholes said: “Since he has been there you cannot doubt his quality but at times he looks like he is going through the motions, however much ground he covers.

“At Real Madrid he had a chance of winning league titles. At Arsenal that is not on the cards.”

But Gunners boss Wenger hit back at Ozil whose recent statistics have been impressive as he has covered more ground than any other Arsenal player.

Wenger said: “I think a player like Paul Scholes would have loved to play with Mesut Ozil.

“Having said that, I believe about Ozil it’s a wrong statement [from Scholes]. He works very hard and he’s a great player.

“He has something to prove and he knows that. We are all in a job where in every single game we have to prove a point.

“I believe he has the quality, he puts a lot of effort in to help the team and he works much harder than his style shows.

“You can be cheated a little bit by his style of play, because he is fluent, easy, subtle and he does not look like he puts the effort in, but he does.

“I knew he had a good physical potential, but did not know how good he was physically. He has a huge physical potential.”

Brazilian defender Gabriel is out for three weeks with a hamstring injury and Nacho Monreal is a doubt for Monday's FA Cup tie at Manchester United with a back problem, but Wojciech Szczesny should be fit after a virus to reclaim his place in goal for the FA Cup.