Mustafi claims ‘disappointed’ Arsenal man is doing ‘the best he can’ despite Arteta decision

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Shkodran Mustafi has claimed that the ‘disappointed’ Mesut Ozil is doing ‘the best he can’ despite Mikel Arteta opting to leave him out of Arsenal’s 25-man Premier League squad, as posted by BeanymanSports.

Before lockdown, Ozil was playing a role for Arteta, whether it be from the bench or being provided the chance to start games.

But when football returned after a long delay, the German’s game time well and truly went down the drain and he has since been left out of Arsenal’s first-team plans completely

Mustafi did nothing but praise the playmaker for how he performs in training and suggested that he cannot do anything more to win those with power over.

“I cannot say too much about it,” said Mustafi. “They have been talking a lot. I just know that Mesut isn’t a teammate, he is more than a teammate. He’s a friend. I respect him. He always respected me and everyone else as far as I have seen.

“At the moment, every time I see him in training, he is doing the best he can. He tries to train well to be there. Everything else, it’s not in my hands. I am not the one who makes the decisions.

“I cannot look into his head. I can only see what he’s doing at the training ground and what he’s doing on the pitch. I felt that he was always trying his best.

“At the end of the day, no-one expects or no-one wants to be left out. As I said, this is something that I am not making the decisions – I see him very motivated. Of course, if you are not in the squad, you are going to be disappointed, even him. The last thing you want to see is someone being left out and not being disappointed.”

Whilst Arsenal’s defence has shown signs of improvement and progression since Arteta walked through the door, it seems as though the North London club are lacking that spark in the final third.

It then begs the question as to what Ozil has done so wrong that he cannot even afford to be a part of a 25-man squad.

Even if it’s a 15-minute cameo from the bench, it doesn’t hurt anybody, especially given that Arsenal aren’t exactly pulling up trees and frightening opposition teams on their way to the top of the league.