Well, that’s a turn up for the books! All this speculation about Emery not wanting Mesut Ozil in the Arsenal team seems to be true, with the BBC’s David Ornstein (considered to be the oracle on all things Arsenal) stating that the Spaniard has actually told Ozil that he should go.
This is what Ornstein was quoted as saying on 5Live (an exact transcript according to Arseblog apparently) when asked about the Ozil rumours… “They’re not just rumours. Unai Emery has suggested to Mesut Ozil that it would be best for him to leave the club. And the hierarchy of the club feels that they would like him to move on.
“I think that’s mainly financially driven for a player earning £350,000 per week but also related to that is the fact he is not performing anywhere near the level when he has played on a consistent basis as we know he can produce from the past.
“He has no desire to leave, Mesut Ozil, so he won’t be leaving in the January transfer window. I’m told he’s working extremely hard to get himself fit. Reports coming out of London Colney is that he’s now doing extra gym work and he has a positive demeanour. He’s determined to work his way back into the side.
“The word was he wasn’t doing a lot of the extra work most players were, and he is now. I’ve heard positive things about his behaviour, his commitment, his relationships with the teammates.
“I don’t think that’s ever been a problem, but he’s clearly out of favour with the manager and that’s a very expensive problem for the club to have.”
So it is not all just backaches and knee problems, and it appears there is a real problem between the manager and our highest paid player. It probably didn’t help that Ozil’s agent came out and said that his client loved Arsenal and actually hoped that would be staying on after his current contract ended.
I bet that went down well!
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