Arsenal FC football players Mesut Özil and Sead Kolasinac were attacked by bikers armed with knives in an attempted car jacking on Thursday in a terrifying ordeal in north London which was captured on video and circulated on social media.
Turkish-German Özil and his Bosnian teammate Kolasinac were chased in Golders Green, north London when the gang surrounded their black SUV around 5 p.m. local time, according to media reports.
In the footage, the Premier League club's defender Kolasinac is seen leaping from the vehicle to confront the masked aggressors, who had pulled up alongside the car on mopeds.
Both attackers appeared to brandish knives at the 26-year-old Kolasinac.
"We have been in contact with both players and they are fine," said a spokesman for Arsenal.
LATEST — Unidentified man attempts to stab Arsenal football players Mesut Özil and Sead Kolasinac in the UK https://t.co/U7lKQeKjGD pic.twitter.com/Bt33B9swij
— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) July 25, 2019
Fleeing the vehicle, midfielder Özil ran into a Turkish restaurant. Waiters and chefs from the Likya restaurant rushed to the aid of the football stars, forcing the scooter gang to flee empty handed, the Daily Mail reported.
"As soon as the restaurant staff started to come to the window and to the doorway, they turned around and roared off," an eyewitness told the British daily.
Police confirmed that they had responded to reports of an attempted robbery.
"It was reported that suspects on motorbikes had attempted to rob a man who was driving a car," a spokesman for the Met Police told AFP.
"The driver, along with his passenger, managed to get away unharmed and traveled to a restaurant in Golders Green, where they were spoken to by officers. There have been no arrests. Enquiries continue."
Kolasinac and Özil are not the first footballers to be targeted on London's streets.
In 2016, Andy Carroll, a former West Ham player, was threatened at gunpoint on his way home from training.
