Arsenal will rest German World Cup players in opening weeks of the Premier League season

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admits that his three German players returning from World Cup-winning duty - Mesut Ozil, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski - may be rested in the opening weeks of the Premier League season.

"I have a decision to make, do I bring them early and play them straight away and lose them in October or November or do I give them the needed rest to recover and get the hunger back?" said Wenger.

"So I have chosen the second solution knowing that it is a bit risky because on top of that we have the qualifier for the Champions League group stage and they might not be ready for that."

The three players will not return to training with the club until August 11, which is only five days prior to the Gunners' opening match of the league campaign - a home game against Crystal Palace.

While Wenger acknowledges the risk associated with such a move, he adds that there simply hasn't been enough time for the three men to overcome a difficult travel schedule and regain sufficient fitness in time for the season opener.

"The distance between the final of the World Cup and the start of the Premier League is too short," said Wenger. "And that is why it is very difficult to predict how everyone will cope with that because the preparation time is too short and the rest time is too short."

"A guy who is coming off a high of winning the World Cup, you can not ask him three weeks later to fight for his life when you are going to Swansea or to Stoke, it takes some time to recover."