With Arsenal still some way from being a force in the Premier League in 2020/21, the continued absence of Mesut Ozil makes little sense.
The Gunners have lacked creativity for the most part of the campaign, and it’s only in the last couple of matches that some of the youngsters have come up trumps with the standard of their performances.
There’s certainly a reasonable argument as to why the winger should be given the chance to resurrect his Arsenal career, however, if the north Londoners don’t intend to hang onto him, it’s better all round to allow him to move to pastures new.
The Daily Mirror report a slight thawing of Mikel Arteta’s attitude towards Ozil, though it doesn’t extend to allowing him to move in January, nor has the Spaniard given any guarantees with regards to playing time for the remainder of the season.
“We will see what happens in the transfer window and we will assess that (Ozil’s situation) at the end,” he said.
“You have to respect the player’s contract. What you can do is try to be open with them and tell them your intentions, the role they have in the team and why that is.
“At the end, they are entitled to make the decision in their lives because they have a contract here.
“Some would like to move because they are not playing, and some would like to stay. At the end that is something we cannot decide.”
If the Gunners can continue in the same vain as the last couple of games, then Arteta has every justification to keep Ozil on the sidelines.
It’s a dangerous game to be playing though.
Ozil is a creative play so we need in a team