Mikel Arteta told ESPN on Friday the reason Mesut Ozil hasn’t been playing as the German misses out on another game.
Ahead of Arsenal’s game against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final, Arteta was inevitably asked about Ozil and why he hasn’t been playing.
“Pure football reasons,” Arteta said.
“My only ambition is the best squad and the best players who give us the best opportunity to win the game.”
Returning to training after a back injury, Ozil posted on his social media accounts
“I A M R E A D Y”
with some exploding emojis as you can see below:
https://twitter.com/MesutOzil1088/status/1283125078079811586
This was on 14 July, posted before Arteta’s comments. It was the last thing he tweeted before the squad was announced.
We all sat eagerly waiting for Arteta’s squad.
Would Ozil be in it? He was not.
Martinez; Mustafi, Luiz, Tierney; Bellerin, Ceballos, Xhaka, Maitland-Niles; Pepe, Lacazette, Aubameyang.
Subs: Macey, Holding, Sokratis, Kolasinac, Torreira, Smith, Willock, Nelson, Saka