Arsenal captain Per Mertesacker says he is hoping the club will be in with a shout of winning the Europa League and the FA Cup in the final weeks of the season.
The German international is retiring at the end of the current campaign to become Gunners’ academy manager, and speaking to German TV station Sport1 in the lead up to Arsenal’s first Europa League game against FC Cologne on Thursday, Mertesacker says he hopes for a successful end to his career:
“The season finale will be the Europa League final on Wednesday, the FA Cup final on Saturday, and the final day of the Premier League one week later. That would be a nice week to complete the career.”
The 32 year old has only managed 32 minutes of game time this season, playing in the Community Shield victory against Chelsea at the beginning of last month.
He has been on the bench twice for Arsenal’s four Premier League matches this season, but he has not played a single minute so far. He will be hoping to be selected for the match against Cologne as manager Arsene Wenger looks to rotate his squad in Europe.
