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Arteta explains Ozil’s omission from Arsenal’s first team

Mesul Ozil
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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says it is very difficult to find a place for Mesut Ozil in Arsenal’s first team.

Mesut Ozil was once again left out of Arsenal’s squad in the Carabao Cup win over Leicester City last evening.

The German midfielder has not played a single minute since the Premier League resumed after the lockdown in June. It is now 17 games in a row since he played for the Gunners the last time.

His head coach Mikel Arteta admits it will be hard for Ozil to break back into Arsenal’s standard XI.

“The team is evolving, you can see the level they are achieving,” Arteta told Sky Sports after the 2-0 win at Leicester City last evening.

“This is where we are at the moment. We want to evolve more and play better and compete better. We need to keep maintaining that.

“I’m really happy with the performance here, how difficult they’re making things for the coaching staff to select the squad.

“We are picking the players that we believe are the best for each game. You can see we keep training, it’s what we’re trying to do.

“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.

“Of course 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.”

Ozil is in the final year of his contract at the Emirates, but decided not to make a move in the current transfer window. Is he going to change his mind now?

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