Gary Neville told Sky Sports’ live coverage of Arsenal’s defeat in the North London derby on Sunday that he doesn’t think Mesut Ozil should be brought back.
The calls for Ozil to be reinstated back into Arsenal’s 25-man squad only grew louder over the weekend following that defeat to Spurs.
Arsenal have created the least amount of chances from any Premier League team this season and it’s been clear that they are missing someone who can get on the ball and feed their currently hungry attackers.
But Neville doesn’t think the ‘disinterested’ Ozil should be brought back into the fold given what he has produced during these past few years.
“You think of the Arsene Wenger era at Arsenal, they had a lot of creative players,” said Neville. “Sometimes we said there were too many. But they haven’t got enough now.
“Anybody that is going to get on the ball and just find that clever pass – I am not as clear on that one in terms of bringing Ozil back after watching him for three or four years.
“He looked disinterested to me. I know he had talent and he definitely had a pass in him. Certainly in the final third, his weight of pass was fantastic.”
Arsenal’s record transfer deals
- Nicolas Pepe
£72 million
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
£56 million
- Alexandre Lacazette
£52 million
- Thomas Partey
45 million
- Mesut Ozil
£42 million
Arteta’s decision to leave Ozil out of his squad has made more headlines than most the players that are actually in his squad.
Given how things are panning out for Arteta, he may well find that the Ozil decision may end up breaking him because his continued presence in the background is clearly distracting.
Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery also started to provide fewer minutes to the £42 million man [BBC Sport] on the pitch, but they didn’t push the button the first-time manager has decided to push.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
