Chris Sutton has little sympathy for Mesut Ozil’s Arsenal situation

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The attacking midfielder is struggling to make his way into the Arsenal team right now.

BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton believes Arsenal may have to ship Mesut Ozil out of the club to resolve his ongoing situation in Unai Emery’s squad, speaking to the broadcaster this week.

Arsenal’s lack of creativity was again apparent away to Sheffield United on Monday night as the Gunners fell to a 1-0 English Premier League defeat.

Emery’s team missed the chance to move up to third and there are again question marks about the future direction of the club.

Ozil’s lack of appearances have been a massive talking point. The former German international has just 142 minutes of football under his belt this season, with one appearance in the league and League Cup.

Sutton thinks if he was performing well in training he would be selected by Emery. He also believes the onus is on the player to sort himself out.

As quoted by BBC Sport, the former striker said: “We aren’t party to how Arsenal train or what’s goes on but if Ozil was doing that well – and we know what a superb talent he is – Unai Emery would know what impact he would have on the team, so he would play him, because he wants to win games and improve.

“There must be something amiss and it looks Ozil will have to sort this situation out himself.

“Arsenal have either got to ship him out and just bite the bullet, or they’ve got to get him back playing in the side, but it’s been down to their own doing and I feel they’ve caused their own problems.”

Is Ozil on his way out of the club?

Arsenal fans have every reason to be concerned about Ozil’s current status. Having a player of his ability not even making the bench regularly isn’t a great situation for anyone involved.

Ultimately though it doesn’t appear as if Emery trusts him to do a job for the Gunners. As Sutton points out, the Arsenal boss is not working against their interests so if the player was showing enough effort then surely he’d be making more appearances?

All signs point to irrevocable differences between the creative talent and the coaching staff at the Emirates. If that’s the case then it seems likely the club will pursue an exit in upcoming transfer windows.

Whether it happens with a whimper or creates more drama remains to be seen, but it’s a fascinating underlying narrative to Arsenal’s season.

Is it best for all parties to end the relationship once and for all?