Mesut Ozil will not be selected in its Europa League lineup when the final squad is announced on Thursday. The German midfielder has not played a single minute since the games started after the lockdown.
Ozil is the highest-paid player on the Arsenal squad, earning an estimated $452,000 a week.
As per Europa league guidelines, numbers of 17 non-locally trained players in the 25-man lineup and as per some reports, the coach wanted to make some space for new signings so he decided to leave out Mesut Ozil and Sokratis.
Ozil's camp were resigned to him being cut from #AFC squad this season – to be confirmed today in Europa squad and also expected for PL later this month. Arteta is king and he's thrown his old team-mate out of court. Piece for @TheAthleticUK https://t.co/jarL9YQhNK
— Amy Lawrence (@amylawrence71) October 8, 2020
Ozil last game for the arsenal was in the win against West Ham United in March before the football season was suspended due to the global pandemic. Throughout the 31-year-old’s career, he’s served Arsenal in 254 games, scored 44 goals and contributed 77 assists. But while he’s been with the Gunners since 2013, he hasn’t been getting much playing time in 2020.
When asked why the German player hasn’t been seeing action on the field, Arteta replied by pointing out how their team is changing.
“The team is evolving, you can see the level they are achieving. This is where we are at the moment. We want to evolve more and play better and compete better,” Arteta told a news conference in September, Yahoo Sports reported.
“You can see that the players we are changing, we are using, it’s very difficult every week not just for Mesut but for some other players as well to make the squad. Every week we try to pick the right players,” he continued.
The Arsenal manager added that he wants to give other players more time and experience as well.
“It’s difficult for others as well that aren’t involved in the Premier League and didn’t play tonight either. We have a squad of 26, 27 players at the moment and we can’t give playing time to all of them,” Arsenal coach shared.
“I understand and I respect your questions but I have to try to do my job as fair as possible. I try to select the players that are, in my opinion, in better condition,” Arteta concluded.
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