Tom Canton of The Gooner Talk has been reacting to Mesut Ozil’s recent interview with The Athletic during a YouTube video.
The German attacking midfielder hasn’t played a single minute of football for Arsenal since the Premier League returned in June (via Transfermarkt.co.uk) and he took the opportunity to share his side of the story as to why he may have been overlooked by Mikel Arteta during the aforementioned period.
During the interview, Ozil discussed his reported stance on the pay-cuts proposed by the club and insisted he will not leave the North London outfit prior to the expiration of his current contract. The 31-year-old took the opportunity to defend himself with regards to a number of issues that have occurred in recent months but Canton was less than impressed by the World Cup winner’s decision to go public.
Here is what Canton had to say: “He knew by doing this interview it was going to cause some issues within the club.
“[Arteta] has kept as much of this in-house as feasibly possible, it is now Ozil who has come out and spoken about everything.
“To come out with this interview, it doesn’t sit well with me.
“I just don’t think this is the right time [or] place. If you don’t get in [to the team] for the rest of your time at Arsenal, come out at the end of your deal when you’re no longer a player or an employee of the club and have your say on things. Until then, you’re an employee and you should, in my opinion, respect that fact.”
Would you like to see the club try and pay off Mesut Ozil to leave sooner?
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TIF Thoughts…
In January 2018, Ozil, who is valued at £10.8 million (Transfermarkt), became Arsenal’s highest-ever-paid player when he put pen-to-paper on a contract that would see him earn a whopping £350k per week before tax (as per BBC Sport).
However, having made just 18 appearances in the Premier League last season and scoring on just one occasion (via Transfermarkt.co.uk), there is certainly an argument to suggest the former Real Madrid star is no longer at his best.
Perhaps it would be best for Ozil and the Arsenal hierarchy to try and reach some sort of agreement that would see both go their separate ways because, in our view, this kind of standoff between player and club cannot be helpful to anybody.