Dean Ashton questioned on The Football Show on Sky Sports (23/09/20 at 12:25 pm) whether Mesut Ozil really wants to be at Arsenal as he labelled him a ‘wasted talent’.
The former Premier League forward believes there will still be a section of Arsenal fans who still ‘love’ the World Cup winner, who has been frozen out by his manager.
Unai Emery and now Mikel Arteta have used him at the start and then slowly pushed him towards one side – he couldn’t even make Arsenal’s matchday squad for their League Cup encounter against Leicester City last night.
“There will be Arsenal fans who still love Ozil,” Ashton told Sky Sports. “None of us can just forget what a talented player he is and what he has achieved.
“But, at the moment, he’s not offering enough and he’s not needed. I don’t think, at the moment, he would improve what’s there right now and what Arteta is picking. I would love to know whether he really, really wants to be part of it. Whether in training he’s putting it in and wants to be involved.
“I would absolutely love to know that because it’s such a wasted talent. Surely sitting on the sidelines it’s just not what any player wants. I’d love to know whether he wants or whether he is trying his best to get back into that side and be a part of it.”
There’s no doubt that on Ozil’s day, he can wow the Arsenal faithful and leave memories etched into their minds forever.
But it has been more of a blank canvas in recent years and he hasn’t been able to use his left foot to try and paint the pictures he wants in the middle of the park.
At times, he can be the easy target because of his easy-going style and well because he’s Ozil.
But given what Arteta has achieved in the very short space of time he has been at the club, many will back his decision-making because he has been consistent in that department.
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