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Per Mertesacker ready to repay Arsenal's faith in him in FA Cup Final

Arsene Wenger's faith in his Arsenal players is well documented but few individuals have benefited to the same extent as Per Mertesacker.

The 32-year-old suffered a serious knee injury in pre-season yet that did not stop Wenger naming Mertesacker captain for the forthcoming campaign in the wake of Mikel Arteta’s retirement.

Mertesacker was back home in Hanover at the time just a week after undergoing an operation. At that stage, he was confined to his bed as he began his convalescence from a cartilage damaged sustained during a friendly against Lens in July.

Before he had regained full fitness, Wenger doubled down on his commitment. Mertesacker was entering the final six months of his contract and Arsenal had to decide whether to take up an option to extend their agreement for a further year. They did just that.

“You have to consider that they wouldn’t do it when you're injured and it was long-term,” he said. “The manager backed me up, made me captain, knowing I was going to be sidelined for more than six months.

“That was the first life. The second life was to exercise the option. Obviously I'm grateful so I want to make sure I try to give something back.

“They had to exercise in December when I was injured. So that was pretty much good motivation for me to think I am going to play again, this or next season. I was not particularly thinking ‘OK I need to play this season’. It was more like giving myself more time not to rush myself.

“So it was then for me a better situation to relax a little bit more. The club trusted me that way. They trusted me that I can come back and make the difference at one stage of the season or next season.

“The injury just happened at the end of the game. You feel you are a little bit tired. I just passed the ball and it cracked in the knee. I didn’t realise with the adrenaline of the game. You just get through it. That ended up [being] quite horrendous.

“That was the first friendly of the pre-season, preparing for the whole season. So the season has just started for me. Now here I am facing probably another cup final. That is the beauty of the sport as well.”

​Mertesacker is set to get his chance to repay that faith much sooner and on a stage more lavish than anticipated as Wenger considers drafting him in for Arsenal’s FA Cup Final clash against Chelsea at Wembley.

Laurent Koscielny is suspended, Gabriel has sustained medial knee-ligament damage and Shkodran Mustafi is a major doubt with illness, meaning Mertesacker could start his first game for more than 13 months.

His return to the first-team fold has been curiously handled. Mertesacker was deemed fit enough to be named on the bench for the first time in Arsenal’s fourth round FA Cup tie at Southampton on January 28.

He was named on the bench a further five times but only made his first appearance of the season last weekend, playing the final 37 minutes of Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Everton following Koscielny’s dismissal and Gabriel’s injury.

Mertesacker has not suffered a setback since the turn of the year yet he has not played in a single reserve team match – even one behind closed doors – in an effort to rebuild his fitness.

“I didn’t particularly ask for it,” he told Standard Sport. “I thought when I got a game for the first team it was enough for me, that was my mindset. So before Sunday I didn’t have a proper game, just training sessions.

“I thought I could compensate with my experience. It felt like that. It felt really good. I didn’t feel like I missed something by playing another game. Even if I would have played two or three months ago it would not have made a difference. I just waited for that chance.”

His time may have come, particularly if Wenger persists with the 3-4-2-1 formation that has yielded an upturn in Arsenal’s form heading into the final, although it is not a system Mertesacker is particularly acquainted with.

“I think with a back three we start from zero, everyone starts from zero, even myself,” he said. “I have never played in a back three, honestly. When I was young I started in a back four and that was my position from then on for the last 15 years.

“It means small adjustments but what it comes down to is knowing what the others are doing and giving them information that they know what you're doing. Communication is the key in that system, even more.”

That and trust in those around you. Mertesacker has received plenty of it.