Arsenal dressing room's stance on Mesut Ozil exile under Mikel Arteta

Arsenal's players are reportedly fully behind German midfielder Mesut Ozil despite his ongoing exile from Mikel Arteta's first-team plans. Ozil has not made an appearance for Arsenal since the football restart post-lockdown and has not since been left out of the Gunners' 25-man squad for the Premier League and Europa League.

Mesut Ozil was rumoured to have a huge falling out with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, who then allegedly decided to freeze him out of the club. The German is Arsenal's highest-earning player and is on a £350,000 per week contract.

Arsenal are seemingly looking to usher Ozil out of the club by exiling him from the first-team squad.

According to Arsenal winger Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Ozil is still part of the team despite having been left out of Arsenal's Europa League and Premier League squads.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles represents Arsenal players' support for Mesut Ozil

Maitland-Niles said that Arsenal's players are taking no part in the spat between Ozil and the club as they focus on Thursday's Europa League opener against Rapid Vienna.

" The club's behind Mesut, we're a team, that's always going to be the case until Mesut decides to make his decision and what he wants to do," Maitland Niles revealed to the press.

"Ultimately, we're focused on the game for now. Then when we get back to the training ground we can talk about if he wants to go by as a team. We're focused on the game as of now. And when we do finish the game and the three points are secured, then we can focus on going back to the training ground and solving the situation as a team."

Mesut Ozil joined Arsenal from Real Madrid in 2013 for a then club record fee of £42.5 million. The German was an integral part of Arsenal's squad under Arsene Wenger, but failed to win over Wenger's immediate successor in Unai Emery. Ozil now faces the same problem under current Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal have been desperate to get Ozil's enormous wages of their books. The Gunners made Ozil available in the summer transfer window, but the 31-year-old did not attract any suitors because of his enormous wage demands.

The midfielder is contracted with Arsenal until the summer of 2021, but the club are keen on moving him on in January.

Arsenal do retain the option of terminating Ozil's contract but would have to pay the German millions in that case. They have now resorted to freezing him out in an attempt to drive him out of the North-London club.