The £56m signing from Borussia Dortmund has had a fever and is likely to start on the bench against Everton.

Boss Arsene Wenger said: “Aubameyang was sick as well so we have to assess him. I have to assess how he is physically and how well he feels.

“He had sickness, a fever. He couldn’t train a lot. He started on Thursday. He was still not completely well so I have to see with the medical department how fit he can be.”

Wenger expects Mesut Ozil to celebrate his bumper new deal by becoming Arsenal’s new leader.

Ozil finally ended months of uncertainty over his future by signing a new £350,000-a-week contract.

And Wenger says he now expects even more on the pitch from the Germany star.

“You expect that he becomes the leader and takes the responsibility to lead the team to success,” he said. “That is what you want.”

Ozil has often been criticised by fans and pundits for his lazy looking style but Wenger defended him, and believes his move into a bigger leadership role will happen naturally.

He said: “It means he will be the technical leader of the team. Physically he is much stronger than people think. His distances are quite good.
He can run. He is not a tackler. When he is angry he can.

“A team goes naturally through it’s strong points. You cannot artificially create that.

“A team chooses a way in the game which is most efficient. I do not decide who to build a team around, it’s the team who decide that on the pitch.

“He is naturally a focal point because they give him naturally the ball.”

Wenger also believes smashing the club’s wage structure to keep Ozil was good business as replacing him if he’d left on a free next summer would have cost even more.

He said: “When you let a player go you have to buy somebody of the same calibre and their wages will be similar. On top of that we would have to pay a transfer fee.

“So overall I think Mesut for us was the cheapest option. On the other side all of our players are well paid. Very well paid. To feel sorry for them - I’m not sure that it’s the most objective assessment.”

Wenger’s next big problem when everyone is fit will be how to blend new boys Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang into a team which already contains the flair of Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette.

He said: “That’s the challenge I have. I will try to find a way to do it. We play so many games that everyone will get games.

“Let’s not forget that for example Aubamyenag is banned in Europe so he cannot play there, Mkhitaryan cannot play in the League Cup final.

“I believe overall in numbers. Debuchy has gone out, Coquelin has gone out, Sanchez has gone out, Giroud has gone out, Walcott has gone, Adelaide… We have not too many players.”