Arsenal lost 3-2 to Aston Villa on Saturday and it was, well, a bit of a shock.
Losing wasn’t the biggest surprise of the afternoon, because it was only a friendly and therefore the result was pretty meaningless.
The biggest shock was that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta recalled Mesut Ozil for the game.
Ozil didn’t kick a ball for the Gunners during Project Restart after being frozen out of first-team duties by Arteta following suggestions that he wasn’t applying himself in training.
As a result, there has since been a bit of speculation about the former Germany international – who hadn’t played since March – leaving North London, with the club’s hierarchy hoping to save themselves £350,000 per week in wages.
But it looks like there might be a route back into Arteta’s plans for the enigmatic playmaker, who has 54 assists in 184 Premier League appearances.
Here’s some photos of Ozil against the Villans yesterday afternoon:
It must be noted that Arteta has quite a few players away on international duty, so Ozil might’ve been there simply to make up the numbers.
Then again, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if he was named in the squad for Arsenal’s Premier League opener away to Fulham in six days.
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