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According to SportBible, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is ready to axe Mesut Ozil from his 25-man Arsenal squad. Arsenal need to leave two non-homegrown players out of their Premier League squad this season, and rumours suggest that Ozil could be one of them.
Arsenal have to trim down their squad to 25 players for the Premier League before October 20th. A squad can contain a maximum of 17 non-homegrown players, but Arsenal currently have 19 non-homegrown players after the signing of Thomas Partey on the final day of the transfer window.
Mesut Ozil signed for Arsenal from Real Madrid in the summer for a then club-record deal worth £42.5 million. Much was expected of Ozil after his brilliant performances for Real Madrid in his three-year stint with the Spanish giants, where he played a key role in helping the club win a La Liga title and a Copa Del Rey.
Ozil's time at Arsenal has been a disappointing one. A few years after the German's arrival at Arsenal, the club went into a downward spiral under veteran manager Arsene Wenger. Following Wenger's departure, Ozil failed to impress the French manager's succeeders at the club.
Ozil has often been criticized for his lack of physicality and work rate, which led to him becoming a regular fixture on the bench under Unai Emery, and now, Mikel Arteta. The German has not featured for Arsenal since the return of football in June.
However, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has stressed that Ozil still remains a key member of his squad, and has a future at the Emirates Stadium. When asked about having to trim down his squad Arteta was quoted saying:
"I'm really happy with all the boys and the way they are training. But selection is getting more complicated with this new rule of having only 18 players in the squad."
Arsenal's signing of Thomas Partey will end Mesut Ozil's hopes of making it back into the squad
Arteta will be thrilled with the last-minute signing of Thomas Partey on deadline day for £45 million. Arsenal reportedly had several bids for Partey rejected throughout the summer, with Atletico using his release clause to prevent the deal from going through.
Arsenal finally signed the Ghanian after agreeing to pay the fee on Monday. Thomas Partey was seen as the final piece of the puzzle that Arteta required to make his Arsenal squad a force to be reckoned with once more. The signing of Partey will effectively see Ozil's chances of making it back into Arsenal's squad diminish.
However, Ozil was afforded a lifeline by Mikel Arteta as the two were seen sharing a fist bump in training. Arsenal will look to maximise what they can get out of Ozil since he is the highest earner in the squad with a whopping £350,000 per week salary.
