Arsenal’s dressing room ‘is DIVIDED over Mesut Ozil saga with £350,000-a-week star’s omission a major factor in Mikel Arteta’s struggle to get his players onside’… as some members of squad lobby for him to be recalled
Arsenal players are said to be split over a potential recall to the squad for influential midfield outcast Mesut Ozil next month.
Top earner Ozil, whose £350,000-a-week deal expires in the summer, was left out of the squad for the Premier League and Europa League at the start of the season but can be reinstated after the January Transfer window.
Ozil’s return is backed by a group of senior players after he impressed in training recently, according to The Telegraph.
Mesut Ozil could be on the brink of a return to first-team action with Arsenal after a long exile
The German could be back in the first-team playing squad after the January transfer window
The former Germany playmaker can officially speak to other clubs from Friday but could be brought in to boost a lacklustre campaign that received a welcome lift with a 3-1 win at home to Chelsea on Saturday.
Ozil has been a persistent presence on social media during Arsenal’s uncertain start to the campaign, admitting that he wished he could ‘help the team’ during a Question and Answer session with fans on Twitter this week.
He called his situation ‘very difficult’ and ‘frustrating’, adding that he did not have the ‘chance’ to try to improve a seven-match winless run that ended with the victory against their London rivals.
The 32-year-old was also rumoured to have held talks with Turkish giants Fenerbahce in London, although that switch is said to require a £200,000-a-week pay cut on his behalf.
Gunners coach Mikel Arteta has admitted that a decision needs to be made over Ozil’s future
Ozil has consistently insisted that he will not leave the club until his lucrative current contract expires.
Urging fans to ‘stay positive’, he told his millions of followers that his main desire was for the club he joined from Real Madrid in 2013 to ‘get better results very soon.’
Club legend Ian Wright spoke out on Boxing Day to encourage Arsenal to seek a pay-off agreement with Ozil, but it now looks more likely that boss Mikel Arteta will have to make a decision on whether to add him to his selection options.
Arteta has admitted that he has not made the most of Ozil, who arrived as the club’s record signing for £42.5million, and has not ruled out his return during the final six months of his contract.
Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-1 on Saturday and Ozil’s exclusion is said to have created a squad rift
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