'Ozil isn’t an asshole' - Podolski defends under-fire Arsenal star

Lukas Podolski defended his former Arsenal teammate Mesut Ozil from recent backlash and insists the German is still ‘good enough’ for the club.

Hopes of seeing Ozil feature as a prominent member of the Arsenal squad anytime soon again appear bleak. He hasn’t played since March 7 and only made the matchday twice since lockdown in England ended. An exit, therefore, was widely touted.

But the World Cup winner, who banks £350,000-per-week in north London, insists he’s going nowhere. While he may have under 12 months left on his contract, he intends to see it out until ‘the last day’. It leaves Arsenal in a tricky situation indeed.

Mikel Arteta dropped him from the squad last season for undisclosed reasons and appears reluctant to entrust him with any responsibility for now.

A truce will need to be called between the pair as well. Especially after Ozil publicly slammed the Gunners boss last week for not giving him chances.

Podolski, though, feels Ozil has been cast in an unfair light over his circumstances and hopes a suitable solution can be found for everyone at the Emirates Stadium.

The German forward told The Athletic on Ozil: “He’s good enough with support from the coach and the team, but something has happened with the club, you can feel that.

“Is he in a disagreement with the club? When I talk to him, we don’t want to talk about that kind of stuff. It’s his situation, him and his agent have to deal with that.

“He’s a good character — he’s not an asshole. He doesn’t do interviews where he speaks badly of his team-mates or of Arsenal and it’s a shame we have this situation because everyone is losing.

“Ozil is sat in the stands, Arsenal are paying him and there is no winner.”