Football club Arsenal says ‘shukriya’ to its Pakistan fans

Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere thank Arsenal Football Club's Pakistani fans for their support

In a short promotional video released on its Facebook page, the London-based Premier League giant thanked its fans from Pakistan for their support.

The video features Arsenal stars such as Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere are seen standing together in their training kit and thanking their Pakistani fans for the support.

Ramsey even says thank you in Urdu, saying "Shukriya".

Arsenal is sponsored by Emirates Airlines, which agreed to a 150 million pound deal with the club in 2012, a deal which included naming Arsenal’s new home Emirates Stadium.

Emirates is also one of the few remaining international carriers that operate in Pakistan, and takes many of them to the UK as well.

While the message was explicitly from the football club itself, an admittedly wooden Mesut Ozil – not unlike his performances at the beginning of the season - mentioned Emirates, and it is likely that the airline was eager to promote its own connection with Arsenal to Pakistan’s football fans, which, though dwarfed by the country’s cricket followers, are still significant in number.

In March, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger reportedly sent a message of condolence to the family of a Pakistani fan, Immad Gujjar, after he died of cancer.