Arsenal are preparing for an FA Cup final on Saturday, a game in which you would ordinarily expect Mesut Ozil to be part of in some way.
However, the German hasn’t been part of any match-day squad since the 2-0 win over Southampton on June 25th, and his last action was in the 1-0 win over West Ham on March 7th when he provided the assist for Alexandre Lacazette’s winner.
It’s clear that behind the scenes something is very wrong, and his absence from a team which lacks creativity is something Mikel Arteta is well aware of.
Speaking to Sky Sports last week, the Arsenal manager said, “I know what Mesut brings, you only have to check his stats and look at what he’s able to do in those tight areas without any space …,” before stopping and adding, “That’s all I can say.”
It’s an unsustainable situation for the club, tied to a player who is the highest earner but who now contributes so little, and you don’t need to be a genius to understand why Arsenal would be keen to add some finality to the Ozil era before the start of the new season.
However, according to his agent, the chances of him leaving before the end of his contract are slim.
Dr. Erkut Sogut told Turkish Instagram channel FutbolGiant, “I don’t think there will be any change with Mesut Ozil until the summer of 2021. He already has a contract. Nothing changed.
“He will stay in Arsenal.”
He went on to say there was a 90% chance that Ozil would leave Arsenal next summer, which means he thinks there’s a 10% chance Arsenal will offer him a new contract which makes him 100% nuts.
There were unconfirmed sightings of Ozil this week in Sweden, and there was no sign of him in the latest batch of training pictures, so it’s very unlikely he’ll be part of Saturday’s squad.
Quite what happens after that game, and before the new season starts, is anybody’s guess.
Can we do a one year loan swap for Gareth Bale? It would be good to have a different face sat in the stands
You’d swap one 350k a week player with another 350k a week player, both of whom have no desire to play football?
Whoosh…that one went right over your head didn’t it
Tankard Gooner
Yes I would. Both players have burned bridges with their current team management and both would be playing for their next contract in a new environment. It might suit everyone. The worst case is exactly the same as it is now.
I was thinking of this exact trade the other day. I’d do it in a heartbeat. Bale seems like he wants to play more than Ozil. Ozil appears happy to sit out and his agent just confirmed it with this news… Best solution: loan Ozil anywhere and pay part of his salary. If he doesn’t want to do that then just buy him out of his last year. He’s due 18 million so offer him 9 to go away and find another team. If he doesn’t take that then he’ll lose his little fanboys. The thing that pisses me off… Read more »
Uniform?
Real would show a bit more respect, ozil would be on the bench at least.
Despite all the other shenanigans, Mesut Ozil is a better footballer than the majority of the current squad, even in his current lack of form and although you may not like every employee for his behaviour outside of your remit you can still be courteous and look at the needs of the shit team we have and play him now and then after all the club is paying him.
Smacks of an arrogance and xenophobic undertones from the top imo.
What on earth is xenophobic about any of this?
Gareth Bale is big enough to hide a xenomorph inside his body!
Because it’s 2020 and everything that happens has some sinister undertones apparently.
Hes banished-either for refusing a paycut(not legally obliged) or more likely for pointing out Chinese human rights atrocities against Uighurs – however this does not carry so well with the hierarchy as China is a massive market and we are not really bothered about those human beings as we dont wish to jeopardise any future monetary benefit , so raising your voice against crimes against a particular peoples is punished however we can all say BLM and go to sleep happy as larry as we are doing our bit.
You have NO idea why he’s not playing. None of us really do, which is why it’s so frustrating.
Arsene handled his ego pretty well. He gave him that preferential treatment which often ‘star / world class players’ get, which is totally fine with me. That was his management style and it got the best out of the player. The new managers had/have points to prove and are hard-lined, and Ozil’s attitude just does not mesh well at all. He’s absolutely not toeing the line with Mik compared to the rest of the squad, and like Matteo he’s nowhere near playing. That’s just my humble opinion.
There’s obviously an issue but I personally prefer the Arteta handle it internally to the Maureen publicly throw the player under the bus. There’s less information for the fans this way but I suspect the players respect how Arteta handles it which is all that actually matters.
He went full John Terry on Stan’s wife
Not true cause John Terry bangs other people’s wives.
I agree that there is no evidence (and it seems very unlikely) that Ozil’s not playing is caused by xenophobia from anyone at Arsenal. But the idea that xenophobia would affect a footballer’s career, including Ozil’s, isn’t sort sort of paranoia or “political correctness.” The ugliness from the DFB and the Bayern hierarchy after the last World Cup quite clearly had a “he’s not a real German” element to it. To me, that episode marked an important change in Ozil. I can imagine (and yes, I’m only speculating) that whatever feeling of ingratitude or even betrayal he felt about that… Read more »
Sure, I don’t disagree – I just don’t think his exclusion right now is down to xenophobia.
I wonder if we’ll ever find out what really has been going on all these months? What we do know is the result: our most talented and highly paid player isn’t even making the bench. From the outside it just seems nuts.
Tbf he’s not playing because he’s not cut it as a player for some time – pure and simple. Arteta is no fool and I assume, and hope, has 100% control over team selection (because I don’t believe he would have taken the job if he didn’t). If Ozil was showing the necessary on the pitch and in training he would play. For me that’s the overwhelmlingly most likely reason and usually, sadly for the conspiracy crowd, the most likely explanation is usually correct.
Or put it simply as Ozil is not suited for team with aspirations of Top-4 but not willing to play like one because we don’t have players or that caliber available around him.
Maybe it’s cause he’s black?
Emery left him out of the squad, Freddie left him out of the squad, Mik left him out of the squad. But yes, it probably has something to do with what he did over the last weeks.
Which means Raul left him out of the squad.
However, Arteta started him for his first 8 games, so something has changed that position over the lockdown.
Who knows if the Chinese are involved. Probably not…. To be honest while the Uighur issue needs attention I found him being the one to highlight it a bit off given he’s happy to be best mates with Mr Erdogan
It is difficult to fight for a long list of causes at the same time and be effective. Anti-black racism has been a problem in football so it makes sense football world addresses BLM and not Uighur. If we talk about our own club, BLM has direct impact on our best player Auba and Laca, Nketiah, Nelson, Saka, Pepe, AMN, Willock.
Goverments in the world should address Uighur issues with courage. For the general public, if Uighur issues are tackled at a different time, it will be more powerful both for them and BLM.
Didn’t the China remarks all happen before Arteta started him in his first 8 league games in charge? The paycut theory might be part of it, but that’s hardly xenophobic.
If the board members and executives like Sanllehi had accepted these cuts, then it would have made more sense but only the playing staff was asked to take it voluntarily which basically went against the recommendations of the Football Players Association. Whatever is going to happen, it just adds one more book to wait for alongwith Arsene Wenger’s book.
Displeasing minorities?
Yeah, I agree. It’s a shite state of affairs, but there’s nothing xenophobic about it. A ridiculous suggestion.
The OP suggested swapping him for a former Sp*rs player.
Yes, that’s right, the answer to any given question is “racism”. Well done you.
In MY opinion , not qualified just what i perceive does not have to marry with you or the rest of the world,
An opinion based on little to zero actual evidence. Tin hat stuff.
Craven Arsenal abandon Mesut Özil over his stance on China’s Uighur persecution This article is more than 7 months old
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/10/09/Sean-Ingle,-L.png?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=45028f2ec91468730be3059a54e1d11a
Sean Ingle
This isn’t evidence that Ozil is being left out of the team for his beliefs or background. It’s newspaper tittle-tattle from months ago which has no bearing on his recent place in the team. Ozil played regularly since he (rightly) said what he said about the Uighur persecution. Xhaka has also been outspoken on the persecution of minorities and is also muslim – he is also playing regularly. There is no evidence that any player has ever been left out of the team on such grounds, ever. As I say, tin hat stuff.
To quote Emery: “Can’t be racist of idiots”
I don’t see the xenophobic idea. The guy is a professional footballer – he needs to get with the new management and requirements. In many other professions he would be ‘performance managed’ (out). The same applies to Guendouzi.
Virtue signal much there gus?
Ah yes, virtue signaling. The battle cry of idiots everywhere. He made a stupid point, that’s not virtue signaling. I bet you call people snowflakes too and still think it’s funny.
Total Bollix – and then some. I’ve seen far worse players at Arsenal than Ozil. But I have never seen any that take so much and give so little. That ‘contract’ he was given, by Wenger and Gazedis, when – in effect – we said we wouldn’t sell Sanchez ; then we tried to ; then we failed ; then we gave him to Utd for a player we didn’t need or want ; and then gave Ozil Sanchez’s wages on a new contract – must be the most glaringly self inflicted wound I have ever seen the Club vent… Read more »
and thats the kicker.
if we had messi or CR7 in our squad, but they refused to put in effort or train 100% like the rest of the team, the fans would still be like :BuT ItS LiOnEl RoNaLdO!
football is a team game where individual talent or effort can help take you that extra mile, its not something to base a SQUAD around.
Totally forgot city were willing to pay £50m for Alexis. We swapped him for Mhyki a few months later. Sigh ….
You realize that he’s our most commercially valuable player right? He has a bigger following than the club itself. I’ve read the Adidas and Rwanda deals were even influenced by his presence, Auba too. Who do you think fans want to see on the lucrative pre season tours? Shirt sales etc Over the years he may have even made us a profit considering he was underpaid for what he delivered on his first contract too. Definitely helped keep us globally relevant anyway. Go anywhere in the world and say Arsenal, one the first things people will say to you is… Read more »
Those that first heard about Arsenal 2 years ago might answer that, yes. And they will leave again together with their hero when he finally joins Traktor Chelyabinsk or Al Hali Wali Lali FC from Qatar in a year.
Visit Rwanda is really a deal to be proud of. I hope next time Russia will pay more and put Visit Chernobyl on our sleeves. Adidas provided better kits than Puma, though, I have to admit that.
IMO, this is the best comment here, totally right.
Indeed it is. 100 % agreement.
The top is so xenophobic that they allow a majority of the starting 11 to be foreigners? Including the captain? I just don’t get where you’re coming from with this.
The club captain until November was a muslim who has spoken out against oppression of minorities. He plays every week when he’s fit.
We are a British club, owned by an American. The top executives are of Spanish, Brazilian and Indian origin. The manager/head coach is Spanish. Our club captain is Gabonese. The Academy director is German.
It’s completely off the mark and wrong to throw around accusations of xenophobia around Arsenal.
Joke apart, this is perhaps the best solution for both clubs for next season.
Even a face like Bale’s?
Why would he move – he’d have to take a pay cut to go elsewhere. If I was getting paid £350k a week to sit on my arse, I’d be pretty happy too!
We would have to subsidize his wages so for next year he would still make 350k. His career is winding down so you would think playing rather than not even making the bench matters to him. Especially as his contract with Adidas ended and he’s trying to launch his M10 brand.
To be honest, I’m surprised he even has the cachet any more to launch a brand. I know he built up a huge following before his recent exclusions from the team, but I don’t really get how he can be popular enough any more given what’s going on around him. Regardless of one’s opinion of him and how he could/could not contribute to the team, he’s stayed far away from the public eye.
I don’t know if you’re in the UK where his reputation isn’t as good but he is still huge particularly in the Middle East and Africa.
For example a season highlights video on twitter just got 1m views a couple of weeks ago.
Or it does matter to him and he’s correctly calculated that the club have been trying to force him out by freezing him out as our billionaire owners doesn’t want to honor his contracts with his employees.
Once he’s in his final year they’ll have no incentive to do so and he’ll get picked again as everyone can see how lacking in creativity we are without him. Villa game made me fall asleep.
Oh and he’s 31 not 35, same age as Auba
There is no evidence at all that any side doesn’t want to honor the contract. We just don’t play him anymore for whatever reason, but I assume guaranteed playing time is not part of his contract.
Would you though?
Sure I’d love to get paid 350k a week to do fuck all. But if I had Özil’s god given ability, for sure I’d rather be getting paid 75k a week to kick a football round the park with my mates.
Özil is well within his rights to sit out the rest of his contract if he chooses. Makes him a bit of a wanker in my opinion.
I totally agree with you, oziel should do an honourable thing and leave Arsenal and go play football somewhere else.
Mesut already gets paid 350K to kick a football around a park with his mates. He trains doesn’t he? I mean if he didn’t we’d be happy to slap him silly with fines so he obviously does that.
Sure his attitude is bollocks and its a waste of talent, but we’re the team that gave him the contract. Most of us were pleased it happened after years of losing our best talent, but it is now very clear it was a terrible contract and is more of an eyesore than the London “Gherkin”.
I’m sure Ozil would prefer to be playing football, too, but I gather that the problems behind the scenes include his unwillingness to negotiate the non-negotiables. I hope this isn’t simply about Ozil’s reported refusal to take a pay cut with the rest of the team, as that takes us away from footballing decisions. I remain of the opinion that it is the coach’s responsibility to get the most out of his squad of players, and to produce a winning side every time they take the pitch. Arteta did appear to have Ozil on board, did appear to have Ozil… Read more »
You would have god given football skills but be cursed with the common sense of a toddler since you chose an almost 80% pay cut to do the exact same job! Ozil can kick a football round the park whenever he wants! I agree that he’s definitely a wanker, but he’s not a complete idiot about finances.
If the board have any guts they’ll ensure he isn’t named in the PL squad next season. That will close this saga once and for all.
Seeing ozils situation makes me aprecitate Mikhi, who couldve sat on the bench and earned 180k per week.
Yet he moved onto Roma to play regular football. He took massive wage cuts in this pandemic.
He moved, but he did not take a pay cut
Arteta said less than 2 weeks ago that Ozil was unhappy not to be playing and that he was pleased and he expects his players to be like that.
WHere do people pluck this stuff out of that he’s happy to sit on his arse?
Water is wet
Nothing to see here
Dr. Erkut tell us something new about your ‘patient.’
He’s got dragon fever
He needs some tiger blood ?
If there was ever a player who needed his agent to also be a doctor…
I guess he prefers money to playing time
Sounds like Sokratis might be in this same boat, unwilling to move this summer (unless he’s determined to convince Arteta to play him, though it seems that ship has sailed).
It’s their prerogative, of course, as Arsenal gave them their contracts. For me it really serves to highlight how careful management now needs to be in the contracts they hand out. The Emirates should not be essentially a retirement home for once-successful footballers, though it seems most of the transfer rumors out there believe this to be the case.
When asked if he would remain at Arsenal next season, he said: “I don’t know, “I have one more year here but me, I never sit on my contract. “I don’t care. If I’m not happy, I don’t play enough or the coach doesn’t like me, I don’t care about the contract. “For me the money is not important, it is important I feel good, I feel happy and the team is happy with me. If not, I take the road and I finish. “I don’t think about it, I think every day to be happy and help the team… Read more »
Sokrates himself said that he doesnt want to sit on his contract back in March.
https://www.justarsenal.com/sokratis-reveals-what-he-will-do-if-he-doesnt-play-enough-games-for-arsenal/237681
Now a rumour comes out that says the opposite.
I dont see the reason people believe the rumour.
Well it was Sokratis’ agent who came out and said this, so it’s not exactly a rumour.
It might be a play for the gallery though (the type where people end up getting wet curtains in their eyes)…
At least the Sokratis contract is a bit more manageable and he doesn’t have a bad back.
Another Winston Bogarde situation.
Precisely the name I was going to post. Happy to sit around and pick up a big paycheque rather than having any professional aspirations. One wonders whether he’d regret that when he’s explaining what he achieved in the last 5 years of his career in later years. But I think we know from his disappearance from any squad that travels further than the Watford Gap that professional integrity isn’t something which is high up his list of values.
There’s a 10% chance because we may have a serious midfield injury crisis that means he has to come back in. Then he suddenly performs like he did in his prime for 3 months and eventually becomes undroppable. His assist tally shoots to 15 by December and everyone is praising Arteta for his resurgence. Our newly signed CAM comes back from injury and can’t get in past Ozil and we begin to regret that purchase. Talk of a January extension begins but we still wait to see if his form dips. By May, Ozil has 25 assists and 10 goals… Read more »
I think in this scenario it’s Lupoli, no Auba, scoring the 30 goals for Arsenal.
I’ll have some of what you’ve been having kind sir.
If we find absolutely no one even on a free deal then we should just pay him part of his wages and ask him to leave coz this is really getting ridiculous
We just can’t move forward due to this one guy’s wages
If I told you to send all your money to me, would you do it?
No, of course not, and we can’t pay Ozil part of his wages to just leave because we have a contract that says we have to pay him everything we promised him. If we ask him to leave he is perfectly at liberty to say, “Yes, of course I will leave now, just give me all the money you promised me first”.
And we should sit him down with his agent and tell him to his face “You will get your wages. Now pack up your shit and get the fuck out. We need players who want to play and want to win. You’ve been a horrendous example and influence on the young players on this club, and it’s beyond time for you to go away and never come back. And by the way, you can’t sign for anyone else as long as we are paying you. Your semi-retirement has become permanent retirement for the next year. Get out now.”
I think the problem is what part of his wages? Presumably the contract is quite tight, so paying him anywhere close to most of his wages in one big lump sum at the beginning of the season to leave wouldn’t help us financially at all – it would be a huge burden!
The trouble with this is, why would he take only part of his wages? The only possible solution to this really is that we/he find a club that wants him and is prepared to pay part of his wages for the final year and we pay the rest – somewhere in Turkey sounds likeliest.
Utterly shameless. Have some dignity ozil and walkaway.
I find the situation irritating but ultimately we were the ones who managed his contract renewal poorly. There’s a contract, he’s entitled to pick up the money that he might not get elsewhere. This shitshow is mainly on us. We knew Ozil was an inconsistent player when he got that deal but we made him the highest earner, the key player. Then, rather than using him in some way, even from the bench, there’s been all this nonsense surrounding him going on this year. They’ve failed to force him out and now we’re losing something like £20 million a year… Read more »
As a fan I’d like him to fuck off and question whether staying on for the money is worth wasting your talent and souring your relationship with a club you’ve spent a massive part of your career with. Is an extra £10 million worth it for being remembered as a bit of a wanker rather than having some sort of footballing home? But still.. it is £10 million.. and we put ourselves in this situation, we’ll have to work hard to get out of it.
I’ll tell you what, mate. Give Ozil a buzz and tell him of your wonderful plan. He simply walks away. ?
Good. Him walking away (or better yet, being told to go away) would be the best thing for the club. Having your highest paid player clearly not giving a damn about playing or winning is really harmful, especially when you have a lot of young players around. The club needs to get him out of here immediately to show all the players that they will be gone if they don’t care about playing and winning for Arsenal, no matter how much money they make.
So he’s been in Sweden all this time. No doubt researching his Scandi noir crime thriller.
When he puts the profits back into the club via anonymous donations spread over the next sixty years he’ll have the last laugh.
Whats the issue?
According to an African proverb, Arsenal mistakenly swallowed a fish bone that got stuck in her neck. It’s refused come out, and won’t go down to the stomach either.
Bad news from Doctor Erkut Nicht SoGut. At least he’ll be well rested for his new challenge in 2021. Any chance of shifting deadwood? #NeinGunnersNein
Take a bow, sir!
We have to get rid of him even if someone just pays 50-100k a week of his wages.
Having him on the bench / squad just rotting away next year will be so negative for everyone at the club
We don’t know why he won’t move. We do know he wants his promised money. Maybe that attack on him at the start of the season has made him afraid to be out in public. Perhaps he knows his playing days are over. Would Arsenal tell the world that?
Arsenal and Arteta will not speak about it. Ozil will not speak about it. Could be unrelated to football.
Even £5k would be better than nothing. If he doesn’t want to leave London then loan him to Borehamwood.
Ozil please just realise your time here is up – go and sign for a team where you can actually play some football again!
And give up what he’s on, just to please you? ?
Gazidis’ final goodbye present. What an absolute waste of money this cunt is – I could say much, much worse about this horrible fraud – make it official, relegate him to the reserves and inform him he will never play for the club again. Possibly the worst signing in 35 years of supporting Arsenal ( and we signed Eddie McGoldrick, Google it, and Stepanovs amongst others in that time ) I despise what Ozil has become to this club. And I don’t lay all the blame at his door. Arsene and Ivan were off their fucking rockers giving him that… Read more »
“Cunt” “Fraud” and “leech” are heavy words for a legal contract signed by both sides…
I am not an Ozil fan, but no need for names
guess it depends which line you fall down on.
1. Özil is being forced out of the club because his contract is too expensive. He has done everything 3 successive managers have asked of him but isn’t being selected because there’s an agenda.
2. Özil is taking your money to sit on a lucrative contract. He has been dropped by 3 successive managers because he acts like a bit of a cunt and refuses to graft/train/perform in the way he’s been asked.
I am on the second line bar the names and the assumption that he refuses to perform.
Perhaps you are right, but I am utterly exasperated by the whole Ozil situation. The sooner he leaves the better
Mesut Ozil was our player of the month in November & December before signing that contract. Maybe we paid over the odds but but no-one envisaged this. Hindsight is a wonderful thing
No hindsight needed, it was ludicrous at the time. Pure desperation stuff by Arsene and Ivan to prove we could keep our players. Rather than ( possibly) lose face they burdened the club with a massive liability that it has another year to pay for. The handling of the Ozil and Sanchez situations were sackable offences IMO. Absolutely dreadful, egotistical, management
Yeah, awful decision. Sanchez wanted out, so why didn’t Arsene simply let Ozil also go to Utd – or City or Chelsea, who were all after him, eh? Trying to keep a world class player and lay down a marker for the rest of the Premiership and the club’s ambition, what was he thinking of, eh? Should have gone for Erik Lamela instead, eh mate? ? FFS….
He got 4 assists in the 8 games after he signed and then he got injured the rest of the season.
In 18/19 he got 7 G/A in 24 games, not terrible. Better ratio than Maddison this season for example.
This year he was frozen out and then performed well under Arteta.
I recall everyone including arseblog were pleased when he resigned as it was a show of intent. Just shows how things can turn sour.
Yep. Especially when you don’t sort out the centre of your defence. Ozil did not re-sign to watch Mustafi and Co ruin our chances of ECL qualification year in year out and drop us down to 8th. And people wonder why the lad is unhappy….
Well a lot of these comments have been absolutely braindead but I think this is the worst. There is absolutely no evidence he doesn’t want to play football. Arteta has praised his attitude, as has Ornstein, as have various youngsters like ESR, Nelson and Willock. The team are pictured laughing with him in training, they all like his Instagram posts. There is absolutely no reason to believe he has any negative influence. He is by far our most famous player and has been and is a big commercial asset. He has one of the best G/A ratios of the Wenger… Read more »
Jack Grealish that is not Jack Wilshere. Had he kept up that rate of 2.4 per 90 he would have been up there in the top 10 in the premier league by the way. Very unlucky not to have more assists. Arteta even said after the Bournemouth game “we could have scored 2 or 3 goals from his passes.” Do yourself a favor and go back and watch the Liverpool, United, Chelsea, Bournemouth or Newcastle games and tell me he isn’t still a big player. Or go listen to Adrian Clarke on the breakdown after the Newcastle match if you… Read more »
Thing is, you can’t blame him for wanting to stay. He’s on a whopping contract and the club clearly want to ostracise him in the hope he’ll up sticks, but this mess is entirely of their own making. This is the club reaping what they sow.
you dont have to blame him to think hes a twat for doing so. obviously its the clubs fault. but i dont have to like him for it. its shameless.
undertones
What an incredibly baseless and quite frankly stupid accusation you have now repeated on here multiple times. Arsenal is an incredibly diverse club both ethnically & racially – in some ways similar to the make up of London. The fans have rallied behind players of different backgrounds & skin tones – Henry, Viera, Auba, Cesc, the list goes on and on. The issue with Ozil has nothing to do with his heritage – it has everything to do with his dwindling production and whatever he’s doing behind the scenes that has caused 4 consecutive managers to freeze him out.
Absolutely. Little worse than somebody cheapening the cause of those fighting against genuine racism by throwing the race card around without base or evidence. There has been many more than one German player and muslim player to have passed through the doors of Arsenal down the years and they have always been treated equitably and fairly. There isn’t a shred of evidence that Ozil is being treated unfairly because of his beliefs or background.
There we go again. Racism is the cause, whatever the problem. Whatever you do don’t take responsibility for yourself, it’s someone else’s fault.
I don’t blame him for wanting to stay, I blame him for not wanting to play.
Arteta gave chance to everyone, and you can see players like AMN and Xhaka taking it. If he was meeting the “non-negotiables”, he would have been on the squad list at least.
It is not a shame to be on a big contract, it is shame not to try to do your best for the club that pays it to you.
When has he ever stated that he doesn’t want to play? Which part of ‘READY’ (as he posted on social media) do you not understand….?! ?
Ah, well I mean if a player posts ‘READY’ on social media then that settles any arguments….
….seriously man, try to keep it sensible.
But has he ever publicly stated that he doesn’t want to play…?! He has publicly declared that he does want to play. I know which side I believe.
No one has ever suggested he has stated he doesn’t to play. Your line of argument asnm always is utterly bizarre. Stating it one way or another means nothing.
FFS. Bai Blagoi’s post. Hello? He blames Ozil for ‘not wanting to play.’ I then asked him when Ozil had ever stated that he didn’t want to play. Try and keep up. Jeez……
You really need to try to read posts properly. This isn’t the first time you have used the ‘try and keep up’ line while you are completely misreading the thread of the argument.
What I said was ‘No one has ever suggested he has stated he doesn’t to play.’
I meant that he doesn’t put the effort required, I thought the context was clear, when I mentioned the “non-negotiables”.
Otherwise “ready to play” means nothing, you have be at the required level. Matteo is probably also “ready”, but it doesn’t mean that he has to be included. There were several examples of players that have been asked to pick up their game, and they have raised to the challenge: Ceballos, AMN.
Arteta himself said Ozil was frustrated not to be playing.
These angry people are talking out of their arses and will feel like disloyal idiots when we eventually find out whatever behind the scenes issue has been going on.
If he publicly refused to play, he’d find his contract in the bin, his access to the training ground blocked and his bank account not receiving any transactions from Arsenal FC anymore, so no, of course he has not publicly refused to play.
Yeah, always the first on the bus to games in the North isn’t he? Perhaps look more at the facts rather than swallow the media spin that his agent puts on an instagram account wholesale.
Heh. “No one knows what’s going on” – except you. Lazy Ozil doesn’t play up north. So that’s why he shouldn’t be in the squad for Saturday. I was wondering why…..
I look at the facts. It’s a fact that he doesn’t travel to many games up North. If you look at the facts of what’s occurred since Ozil was last in the side it’s pretty obvious why he hasn’t been in the squad and won’t be again tomorrow.
As blogs said, its frustrating cuz NO one knows exactly why he isn’t even on the bench
It’s also a shame to be the only player not to agree to take a pay cut to help to sustain the future of the club.
Who’s down voting this comment?
All of your colleagues can agree a great gesture like that, and you as the best paid of all them, cannot?
Victory through harmony anyone?
My suspicion is that this is actually the main reason he’s not playing. We know that Arteta personally intervened to get the cut over the line, putting forward the need for collective unity. It’s pretty obvious that it would be taken as a clear sign that you weren’t going to be part of the collective if you didn’t sign up to it. Don’t forget that Ozil started the last game before we went into lockdown…
I didn’t downvote, but Özil allegedly isn’t the only one not to agree to the cut. Makes one wonder about the Sokratis and Martinelli situations… just kidding. Don’t. I’m sure this is why Gazidis jumped ship, and no-one at the club was trying to stop him. It wasn’t a good look, refusing the cut. It undermined the whole thing, I’m sure. The executives wouldn’t have liked it, especially when they allegedly also forfeited a bigger percentage of their own wages. It just shows how bad things are. A deal could be struck, but I believe he’s staying put out of… Read more »
I’ve not heard of anyone else refusing it, but it’s possible given the size of our squad. Also worth remembering that the money from the cut went to the staff lower down the food chain, to stop the club from furloughing them. I think it’s a really tough decision that Arteta has had to make and so soon into his managerial career. I’m 100% certain that he’d rather have Ozil playing than not. I’m also 100% certain that the club would not want to spend £350k a week on someone sitting in the stands. I’ve been very impressed by the… Read more »
Especially the second part of your post is really excellent.
First of all he wasnt the only one.
Secondly it was absolutely correct not to agree to it.
It was simply a scheme to avoid the Kroenkes losing any money. Wonder why we were the only club in the country to do it.
Furthermore after Emery and Raul tried to force him out how charitable do you think he’s likely to feel towards the board?
Totally unethical if this is the reason for his exclusion.
I think its much better that he keep paying for kid’s surgeries rather than preventing poor $10b Stan losing anything.
I haven’t seen any evidence that anyone other than Ozil rejected the cut. I’m not saying that wasn’t the case though. I don’t see why ‘the Kroenkes’ would lose money – they’ve never put a penny in, all that would have happened was that the club, our club, would have had less money to work with. And we’d have had to have furloughed staff. Whether it was correct for Ozil to think he’s a special case and not part of the collective is a matter of personal opinion, but it says a lot about about his values and integrity and… Read more »
Will his time at the club be remembered fondly? I’m starting to doubt it, he was the one that was to start the process of turning us from fourth in the league every season to a title challenger. But that never happened, and now we’re hoping to finish in the Europa League through the FA Cup.
Hard to say I’ll miss him, still think his best game for us was his debut against Sunderland.
I’d say his best game was the Leicester game (was it last season?)
If only we could have that Mesut every week.. sigh
Yep. If only he were actually picked…..
And in how many games over his time at the club has he been outstanding? I’m afraid he benefits from the same rose tinted glasses effect which enabled Walcott to remain at the club as a result of great PR which in no way was matched by output. The difference being Ozil is underlyingly a fantastic player. But only seemingly when he wants to put it in.
Practical definition of sunk cost.
And no one’s fault but the club. No sympathy for them. Especially if we lose on Saturday.
Isn’t he trying to launch his own football boot brand now he’s no longer with Adidas ?
You’d think the best place to showcase that would be on the pitch. Guess it’s just a job to him and Bale in the twilight of their careers, so sitting on the £££ rather than playing. Bit sad really as they still have a lot to offer in the right setup.
I don’t think the Bale situation is the same; he’s generally played well, contributed a lot and scored important goals. In his case Zidane is the one who’s tried to force him out, and Bale was willing to play ball last year and leave. The club had waived a transfer fee to get him off the books and Bale agreed wages with Jiangsu Suning, but Real Madrid made a last minute u-turn and demanded a transfer fee at which point the Chinese club walked away. Bale – quite fairly – feels he’s been messed around by the club and not… Read more »
I would have Gareth Bale in a heartbeat plus it would piss of the spuds immensely
detestable.
Whatever are the reasons of his absence, maybe is real injury, I would love to risk him on Saturday or anyway have him next season with us. Whatever I look I don’t see anyone better of him in Europe and no way we could bring someone better anyway with our money restriction. Cost less keep him and there is less risk anyway. Happy if he will stay.
Petulant.
Let’s just give him the £18 million, or whatever the rediculous amount is, we owe him for the remainder of his contract and tell him to piss off to Turkey or Sweden as he has been made redundant. Keeping him on the books is toxic for the rest of the team who do train and appreciate the chance to play when it is offered to them. Even Mustafi has been trying of late and I never thought I would say this but I feel sorry for him missing the FA Cup final! Until Ozil is no longer a Gunner I… Read more »
It’s very sad, whatever the truth is – as fans, we pay for our season tickets and see the club give players who don’t want to put in the effort earning a shedload whilst we struggle through these difficult times.
I was always a huge fan of Ozil, i think he is one of the most talented players we’ve seen at The Emirates – but it’s very hard to think fondly of him, given how much money he has been paid and how little he has returned on the pitch.
Surely the Club can insist that he is available to train at all times that the rest of the Club Squads train.If he fails to do so in the correct manner and at the correct time then he could be warned of his future conduct and any further infringement could lead to sacking for breach of contract. Football Clubs in the current economic environment must ensure that players fully comply to the terms of their employment and dont take advantage of their situation.We are talking about huge sums of money and the Clubs surely have the right to act if… Read more »
I’m sure if Arsenal had a reasonable case for breach of contract with Ozil they’d pursue it. They stand to save £18m from terminating his contract early.
Another fine mess Gazidis got us in to. AC Milan should take him.
If we had finished in the top 4, I would say good on Arteta for dropping Ozil. But by dropping him we haven’t really improved. We finished 8th. We didnt move forward and by dropping him, did we? How many times have we finished 8th since Ozil joined Arsenal? Not saying he is great, but our leauge position and poor results should do the talking.
I agree there are certain games post-lockdown where Ozil might well have helped us get better results…..(though I also have no doubt the Man City & Liveroool results could not have been acheived with him in the team)………but Arteta’s biggest challenge is changing the culture within the squad, to instil a burning desire to be the best each & every day which has been missing for a number of years. If he thinks playing Ozil would damage his efforts to do that, then he is right to accept any short term negatives of that decision.
Remember before the lockdown there were questions about the many draws under Arteta, and guess Ozil was much in the Match day squads
I’m wondering why clubs aren’t putting clauses in contracts about players getting reduced wages if they’re medically fit but not playing?
Contracts may have “appearance bonus”, which is effectively the same. But the players might be reluctant to sign a ting that is heavily dependent on such and with a too low fixed salary. Remember Wilshere.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Opening a can of worms” ?
Yaa Gooner Yaa
Up yours….
“It’s an unsustainable situation for the club, tied to a player who is the highest earner but who now contributes so little”…………….make that nothing.
Not his fault that the club agreed to give him that ridiculous contract.
Not his fault that we haven’t got, or found any other creative players, and how can he contribute if he doesn’t play????
We can’t just blame Ozil, the club is also responsible for this mess.
When we gave özil the contract we were petrified of dropping off the pace (how ironic). The people that engineered that decision have now left the club.
Özil needs to do the same if he is to salvage any of his reputation.
You forgot to mention michael owen’s cheating handball which VAR also would have disallowed ?.
Michael Owen…. Now there is a cunt! ?
Mesut and Dr Erkut have to realize, that not playing him at all during one whole year will make it impossible to find a reasonable club after that. But even if they calculate that it is better to collect 1 year 350k p/w instead of 3 years 100k p/w (assuming that there is someone stupid enough to offer him 100k wages for 3 years now), they have to remember that Ozil’s biggest asset — his popularity will be effectively shot dead. The Arsenal fan base for sure will not follow their hero like before, and no one from the outside… Read more »
Have you been to any of his social media accounts? His followers don’t care if he’s playing or not. He’ll still be popular with them because they know it’s not his fault that he’s not playing.
Exactly. Well said. There’s a few of us on here who know that to be the case too. Just a few of us, mind…..
It’s amazing how badly informed the majority of commenters on this page are isn’t it.
Getting themselves all worked up into a rage over an imaginary version of Ozil when they don’t even have a grasp of the basic facts. They think he hasn’t been training for example.
Many of them are also rewriting his Arsenal career as if he’s done nothing.
121 G/A in 254 appearances, creates the most chances every single season and has won 3 FA cups not to mention giving us some of the most entertaining football in Europe.
This is a no-brainer for the club. We are biting our nose to spite our face. His agent has made it clear in more languages than one, he isn’t going. We can bench him or thrash him till the cows come home we still gonna be paying him 350k end of the week. And not like he is a disruptor or bad influence or somthing. The guy is well loved by his team mates, not 1 person has talked trash about him like we had with the Alexis saga. If i were Arteta, i would make use of him till… Read more »
Finally, finally, someone on this page gets it. Well said, mate. ?
I think you’re underestimating the impact of him being the one player who declined to take a pay cut. He thinks he’s above being part of a team and not the same as everybody else. I very much doubt that he is genuinely well-loved now.
The whole pay cut business is an entirely separate issue from what happens on the field of play. If that is this club’s pathetic reason for freezing this guy put – then more fool them; they are simply guilty of gross mismanagement and pouring this club’s relatively limited resources down the drain. Ozil exercised a right to decline taking a pay cut and that is his legal prerogative. It has – or shouldn’t have – absolutely anything to do with his selection in the side. Yes, there’s an ‘Arsenal Way’ of doing things; as a fan of nearly fifty years… Read more »
I didn’t say that either it was related or that the club aren’t to blame. All that I said is that the commenter above is underestimating the impact on his popularity with teammates by being an exception to them on the pay cut. I didn’t say it wasn’t his prerogative to do that either. But you’d be naive if you didn’t think it had some impact on how he is regarded by those who have taken pay cuts because they wanted to collectively help the club. What is interesting though is the speed with which modern fans pile into the… Read more »
“Nobody knows what’s really going on”, yet you are trying to tell us that he’s split the dressing room up for refusing to take that pay cut. How come, if that’s the case, the media have got hold of that one yet? And if Ozil has had the sulks in the past, has it ever occurred to you that he might just be a tad frustrated at the way the club has steadfastly refused to sort out it’s central defence in the past seven years that he’s been with us? He didn’t come here to just win the FA Cup,… Read more »
No i’m not. Read what i’ve written rather than try to twist it to suit your agenda. I’ve replied to the nonsensical comment about that he’s well-loved by his teammates. I haven’t said he’s split the dressing room. I actually suspect that most of his colleagues are just tired of his antics and his failure to see himself as part of the collective. More ignored rather than splitting anything. What is clear is that he’s split himself from the starting line-up. Good, we need to move on from selfish players like that to make ourselves successful again. Ozil has been… Read more »
Correction. A ‘flop’ that helped us win three FA Cups. ?
Arteta made it crystal clear Guendouzi’s attitude was the problem.
He’s said nothing of the sort about Ozil and was praising him last week.
Non-negotiables.
He was not the only one and if anything the paycut itself will have damaged morale.
It’s not like any of them will have wanted to do it, more likely they felt it forced on them by their bosses and didn’t want to risk damaging their careers and selection chances. The reactionary public demand for them to accept it must have forced their hand too. Ozil is well enough established to feel secure enough to tell Stan to feck off and eat the losses as he should.
When Arteta had just come, we were nearly drawchester, mostly because Ozil was in the squad, remember the other main cause of draws Guen was out. Thus if anything Mesut left us hanging for the Europa qualification
So our central defence has had nothing to do with the fact that we’ve been ‘hanging for Europa Qualification’ – it’s all Ozil’s fault is it? Honestly, some of you dudes on here….?
Madness!
….and so it continues. The ignorance. The hate. People who expect someone to stop accepting the terms and conditions of his contractual pay, people who seem to think the same guy is responsible for who picks the team and therefore his absence from that team sheet, people who blame the same guy (rather than a proven calamitous central defender whom they continue to hero-worship) for us not being in the top four. Ignorance of staggering proportions. Well, at least Mesut Ozil cannot be blamed if we lose this FA Cup Final at the weekend (having, I might add, already helped… Read more »
Finally, a voice if reason. Been reading down through the posts and I keep asking myself “Why do I continue supporting a club with so many nasty, hating people?” Then I realize it’s the club I support, not the fans – except those with a solid bit of reasoning within them. Thanks for sticking your head out (as I am now) and speaking truth. Funny bit, the next time Ozil plays an Arsenal game that he goes in and plays at “man of the match” level, all these same fair-weathers will be praising him. Hard to stomach, some of this… Read more »
All these commenters talking as if they’re in Mesut’s head or they’re a fly on the wall in closed door discussions. But people are going to claim Ozil is selfish, lazy, etc when they know nothing. I’ve never seen so many fans ready to direct their hate at a player – one of the best we’ve had in the last decade – based only on their own unconfirmed assumptions.
Fred, most of the Arsenal fans I have spoken to since lockdown think it’s an absolute disgrace how the player isn’t at least making the bench and being given the opportunity to prove that he can still make a contribution to the team’s aspirations. Either Arteta is directly refusing to play him, or he is under instructions from the Arsenal hierarchy not to play him. I very much suspect it’s the latter. I cannot believe that Arteta would deliberately omit a player of Ozil’s talent and experience from an FA Cup Final squad – particularly when our midfield is patently… Read more »
To be honest mate, I think you need to do a bit of self-reflecting when accusing others of ignorance and hate. We’re all Arsenal fans on here (I assume), we all want what’s best for our club (I assume) and i’m pretty sure we all know that the club will be around long after Mesut Ozil has left the club. This isn’t Mesut Ozil FC. From what I can tell, even the most frustrated people commenting on here don’t hate Ozil and would want nothing more than to see him repay the money we’re spending on him with what he… Read more »
“I know what Mesut brings, you only have to check his stats and look at what he’s able to do in those tight areas without any space” Do you really think that sounds like a coach that would rather not play Ozil. Like you rightly pointed out, he started every game before the break. So do you think he just decided over the past couple of months to stop putting in the work in training. He has an amazing relationship with his fellow players. I don’t think they would take too kindly to him if he was stinking up Colney… Read more »
Right. So why’s he not been picked since lockdown then, when he was picked before it?
You’ve just made my earlier points all the more crystal clear. I don’t need to ‘have a think’ – it’s patently clear. He is clearly being frozen out by the club (not Arteta – I just used that as the other example people are peddling) because of his refusal to take that pay cut during lockdown, which he was legally entitled to refuse. Yet he’s being called all the names under the sun on this thread, check them out; if that’s not hate I don’t know what is and being held responsible for this club’s dire performances, even when he’s… Read more »
You’re a hypocrite. You’re rude to people who are fed up with Ozil thinking he’s bigger than the club and can’t self-reflect about what this says about you. I’m glad i’ve helped finally make the penny drop for you – shame you had to be so offensive on here before you’d worked it out for yourself. Of course he’s legally entitled to decline to take a pay cut. Nobody has ever said he isn’t. It’s a straw man argument you keep perpetuating to help you with your blinkered love-in. Call it whatever you want, the simple fact is he was… Read more »
Fine, pay him his wages and tell him to f*ck off from Colney. Have paid him for ludicrous 7 years now, that one last year won’t kill us.
Just make sure I don’t have to see this guy ever again.
A joke of a player and even a bigger joke of a charakter.
‘Charakter’……?!! You can’t even it, never mind judge it!! ????
Man try to behave, in a Wakanda language I shall say, ‘we don’t do that here’
My sincerest apologies for speaking the Queen’s English.
You can’t even it?
ahh, so typos happen to you too. For a minute I thought that you were an infallible deity sent here to show us to the light, the true way.
but no, you’re human like like the rest of us. What a letdown.
OK, he is not my hero. When I think about it now, he is actually pretty lame.
Says a bloke who calls himself DaDude. ?
OMG, German auto correction on his mobile did that. But you spotted it immediately. My hero!
I thought you cared about football and nothing else? Clearly German Auto Correction is a passion. Do you collect model rail sets as well?
The Ozil contract situation is simply another symptom of the horrible mismanagement that the club has suffered from over the last decade. I loathe Ozil and everything he stands for (the lazy, selfish, entitled modern footballer), but I don’t blame him for just hanging around and picking up his money. Would YOU just walk away from a multi-million pound contract? Me neither. If I was Stan or his gullible son I would be spitting feathers at the way my money had been squandered by the senior management at the club. In recent years, tens of millions of pounds have been… Read more »
Holy cow, a fats comment I can wholeheartedly agree with. Well said.
I do not think they mismanaged Sanchez and Mikhitaryan deals. We depended so much on Sanchez that the vast majority of fans suggested we should keep him even if this means a big amount of money would be lost.
For Mikhi, what can you do? You always take a risk on players. When Torres went to Chelsea from Liverpool, the risk was minimal but see how it turned out.
“Lazy and selfish?”
Ok how many hundreds of kids surgeries have you paid for?
If you’re so hardworking why haven’t you been voted your country’s footballer of the year 5 times and won the World Cup?
What a load of crap.
Name me a game, against any other top-six club, where Ozil turned up and was decisive in the victory.
Kids surgeries, LOL, it doesn’t get better than that. Any of those kids gonna be Arsenal players? If they will, I am gonna say thank you Özil then. Otherwise I don’t really care. I am a fan of Arsenal and care about Arsenal. I don’t come here to read about kids surgeries. Aren’t there any medical blogs or charity websites for that?
I don’t come on this website to read crass anti social comments from selfish, self-centred individuals, but hey, that’s life. Aren’t there any ME ONLY blogs for people like you?
Suppose Mesut Özil is (miraculously) selected for the final this Saturday, comes off the bench to provide a sleek assist for the winning goal, or even better still, does a solo run through the Chelsea defence and smashes in the winner on 93rd minute, would he have regained his legendary status with the fans at the Emirates?
Fantasies…
We are gunners, not cheerleaders…..
Our fans wanted the team drastically improved but based on a couple of recent games, this is what they think:
Xhaka (keep him)
Ceballos (extend his loan then buy him)
Luiz (great player, deserves to have contract extended)
Bellerin (should play)
AMN (play him ahead of Bellerin who should play, lol).
Ozil can become a hero if given the opportunity on Saturday. Fans will say here that Ozil is a better player than De Bruyne.
In your last paragraph you’ve actually just highlighted how ignorant the Anti Ozil brigade are. I’ve heard a bloke at the Emirates giving Ozil absolute dogs abuse only to be jumping around like a maniac at the following game because of what Ozil had done on the pitch that led to a goal. Charlie Nicholas used to get the same treatment back in the day. The same wankers who were giving him abuse in the first half were singing ‘Charlie, Charlie’ after he’d scored in the second half.
Maybe now he’s in the final year of his contract he’ll turn into prime Ozil
How can he, when he’s not getting a game? He’s not even on the bench.
By changing his attitude. It’s pretty obvious his form dipped since he signed that ridiculous contract
Yeah….of course it did….?https://youtu.be/TyE3cP27VoY
Why the worry guys? It’s not like it’ll affect any of us… We’ll keep going on with our lives, with our money untouched by his massive wages. It’s the club’s problem and there’s nothing we can do. Btw, does someone know how can I buy a OnePlus Nord?
His agent must be crazy or greedy fool don’t like him mr doctor of what I say I use love Ozil playing for my arsenal team who I started sporting when I was 10year old I.m in my 60yrs old never seen greedy money grabber player at arsenal give him to some club for free what a shame mr ozil shame on ur greadyness
‘That’s all I can say’. That’s the problem, all the secrecy and speculation. Is Mesut physically or mentally struggling? Is Mesut refusing to train or play? Are senior executives telling Mikel not to play him? Is Mesut a lazy git in training? Whatever the situation is there needs to be a solution or clarifying statement. The situation festering like this is not fair to the manager, the player or the fans.
Arteta is being very careful, very coy. That is not the reaction of a man as strong as Arteta assessing his own decisions. I remain convinced that he is under instructions from the board not to pick the player. Had he himself dropped Ozil, I think he would have been far more forthright in his response. Instead, he is cagey, almost apologetic. I smell a fucking big rat.
I agree.
This was news about 2 years ago.
https://youtu.be/31g0YE61PLQ
Michael Scott reacts.
If i got paid 350k per week to play video games and spend time with my model wife I’d stay too…
One of the worst business we’ve ever done, extending his contract
Ozil is not to blame for this.
Any one of us here would be more than happy to be paid £350k to do nothing.
The issue is Wenger and the BOD who were more than happy to pay him it knowing the kind of player he was.
Just very poor management on the part of Arsenal which is nothing new..
I would like to see some Xenomorphs at the club – it will certainly motivate them to move quicker wouldn’t it?
Let him rot in obscurity
Obscurity?! Mesut Ozil?! ?
He’s our Jack Rodwell
I wonder if has breached his contract with the club? Can we sack him?
If he would, yes. But he hasn’t and he won’t. His management definitely isn’t stupid and instructs him well.
No way arsenal won’t take a hit this year on Ozil. Best is to find a loan deal with a club that will pay 70% of the wages but won’t pay loan fee. Arsenal pays d rest. That will significantly reduce the wage bills
That’s if Ozil is still interested in playing football
Problem is that Özil would have to agree to such loan as well. So he could just say no to it, even if financially he’d earn the same. God forbid, somewhere else they might expect him to actually play. (And yes, I mean football and not Fortnite) Better to stay in London.