Mesut Ozil is gradually proving to be extra baggage at Arsenal football club as the manager of the club, Mikel Arteta, said the talented midfielder is not ready to feature for the club.
Ozil was unexpectedly left out of the squad that visited Manchester City on Wednesday despite being fit to play the match Arsenal lost scandalously (3-0). Arteta told the press before the match that he intentional left out Mesut Ozil from the squad for tactical purpose. But it is obviously looking like the German footballer is making things a bit difficult for the manager who just joined the club late last year.
Recall that Ozil was in the bad books of the former coach of the club, Unai Emery. He was constantly left on the bench in most parts of Emery’s reign at Arsenal.
Prior to that, fans of the club were shocked when Emry decided to appoint Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang the captain of the side ahead of Ozil who has been at the club 4 years before the Gabonese striker joined from Bundesliga side, Borussia Dortmund.
When Emry left and a younger manager like Mikel Arteta (38-year-old) took over, the fans thought Ozil would finally have the chance to give his best to the club as the highest-paid player at the club on a £350,000-per-week wage.
A sign that Ozil would still find it difficult to be on the good books of the club’s management was when the former Real Madrid star refused to accept a pay cut. The 31-year-old midfielder was surprisedly among three players that refused a pay-cut amid the coronavirus pandemic despite being the highest-paid at the club.
Before the coronavirus pandemic halted football and the talks of giving players a pay-cut surfaced, Mesut Ozil was already enjoying a serious playing time under Mikel Arteta who used to be his teammate less than 5 years ago. But it seems that won’t happen at the concluding part of the season.
“I have been very open with Mesut from day one”, Mikel Arteta told newsmen on Thursday night. “Since I joined I thought that he was fit and he was willing and he wanted to perform at the level he can do.
“He has played every game with me I think. So that it is. The moment I see that he is ready again to do that, I will treat him like anybody else. I think I have been more than fair with him and I think he has responded in many games the way I want. That’s it.
“A lot has happened to him in the last few weeks and I have to respect the timing of every player that needs sometimes a little bit of time.
“It has been difficult preparation the last two months to get players ready and again I am the first one that wants Mesut at the best and I want to put him on the best when he can give his best.”
Arsenal’s next match is against Brighton on Saturday and the football world would want to see whether Ozil will be left out again or not.
The relegation-threatened team beat Arsenal 2-1 earlier in the season and they will attempt to repeat the same feat when they meet for the second time this season to brighten their chance of surviving relegation.
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