Arsene Wenger has admitted he had his own frustrations with Mesut Ozil but fears his former club are wasting the World Cup winners’ unique talent.
The former Germany international featured prominently in the opening weeks of Mikel Arteta’s tenure but hasn’t played a competitive game since March.
Ozil refused to take a 12.5% pay cut at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and although Arteta appeared to offer him an olive branch by fielding him in a pre-season friendly, the 32-year-old hasn’t been included in the first team squad for any of the club’s matches so far this season.
The gifted playmaker suffered his latest ignominy after he was left out of Arsenal’s Europa League squad which was confirmed earlier this week, but secured a PR win by offering to pay the wages of axed club mascot Gunnersaurus.
Wenger sanctioned what was then a club-record £42.5million transfer fee to sign Ozil on deadline day seven years ago and although the pair enjoyed many highs together, the legendary Frenchman admitted that to get the best out of Ozil, you need to select players who will make up for the former Real Madrid star’s deficiencies.
He told Der Spiegel: ‘He wasn’t exactly the one with the greatest discipline on the pitch. And his game against the ball wasn’t his forte.
‘But you can deal with that if you put some more defensively thinking players at his side. The main thing is the balance between attack and defence is right.
‘It is no coincidence that (players like Ozil) seem so calm on the ball. They take in more information than others and therefore play deliberately.
Arteta finally secured one of his primary transfer targets Thomas Partey on transfer deadline day after the Gunners agreed to activate the Ghana international’s £45m release clause.
Despite the presence of another commanding midfielder, it appears as though Ozil has already played his final game for Arsenal and will sit out the remaining nine months of his £350,000-a-week contract.
