Mikel Arteta has suggested that Mesut Ozil may not play for Arsenal again this season, despite being pictured in training yesterday, on the club’s official website.
Ozil has been well out of Arteta’s plans at Arsenal since the restart, with the German seemingly being cast aside.
Ozil has fallen well down the pecking order at the Emirates Stadium, after a rather ineffective campaign.
And when asked if Ozil was going to play again this season, Arteta suggested that the Arsenal man may still continue to have to watch on from the sidelines.
“I don’t know,” Arteta said. “At the moment, the situation remains the same. We will see if that changes.”
If Ozil doesn’t play again for Arsenal this term then he may well have already played his last game for the Gunners.
The playmaker remains Arsenal’s highest earner, and they will surely want to get him off their books in the summer transfer window, to help make room for new additions.
Ozil’s continued omission at Arsenal is likely to be a source of controversy throughout the season with supporters, as it is questionable whether they are a better team without him.
Although Ozil may not have been at his brilliant best for some time, Arsenal do appear a more creative side with him involved.
It is also surprising to see him drift out of contention again, as Arteta seemed to have big plans for Ozil when he first came in.
Indeed, the Spaniard praised Ozil in FourFourTwo back in January for showing such an improvement and said he felt that the World Cup winner was ‘unlucky’ not to have more goals to his name.
“I think he could have had more assists and probably more goals in the games he has played under me which has been a little bit unlucky but overall I think that his performance has improved a lot,” Arteta said just months ago.
The Gunners are in action later this evening against Liverpool, but it seems that Ozil will only be given a watching brief for the contest once again.
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