Former Arsenal player and current tactical analyst Adrian Clarke has recently commented on the exclusion of Mesut Ozil from the Gunners’ latest fixture against Manchester City, and what it could mean for the midfielder’s future at the club.
Since joining Arsenal from Real Madrid for a fee of £42.3m back in 2013, Ozil has gone on to make 254 appearances for the Gunners, scoring 44 goals and providing 77 assists, helping his side to win three FA Cups.
However, the German international has found his game time rather limited over the past two seasons, featuring 24 times for Arsenal during their 2018/19 Premier League campaign, over which he scored five goals and provided two assists, and averaged a WhoScored match rating of 6.78/10.
It has been a similar story this term, with the 31-year-old making just 18 league appearances for the club, scoring one goal and providing two assists, averaging a match rating of 6.71.
And, once again, Ozil was left out of Arsenal’s squad for their 3-0 defeat at Manchester City on Wednesday night, which caused Clarke to suggest on the most recent episode of the Football Writers Podcast that Ozil’s absence could be a sign that he doesn’t have a future at the club.
He said: “In Mikel Arteta’s shoes, I wouldn’t have picked Mesut Ozil either, not because I don’t rate him – he was playing pretty well, actually, before the break – is because his record in away games against top teams is not good. And, I probably wouldn’t have selected him.
“I think the fact that he wasn’t involved at all is it is a sign. I do think it’s a sign that changes are afoot, and they have to be quite radical. What we saw [on Wednesday] was a stark reminder of how far Arsenal have fallen behind the big boys. They are miles away.”
TIF Thoughts…
The fact that Ozil did not even make the bench for Arteta’s side on Wednesday would indeed seem like an ominous sign for the German midfielder, as there were no injury concerns reported regarding a possible reason for his omission from the 20-man squad, with his manager stating that it was purely “a tactical” decision.
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As such, it would appear that the Spaniard simply does not have Ozil is his plans, either short or long term, meaning that we could well see the exit of Ozil sooner rather than later.