Mesut Özil is hoping to make the squad to face Fulham in the Premier League opener later this week, with no progress on a potential departure.

The Evening Standard report that Mesut Özil is hoping to feature in Mikel Arteta’s squad to face Fulham on Saturday, as Arsenal kick off the new Premier League season.

It would be the first time since Southampton, over 10 games ago, that the German has made it into a competitive squad for his club. As for appearances on the pitch, you have to go back even further to West Ham in March.

There are some signs the 31-year-old might be getting a chance again under Mikel Arteta. We don’t know if he featured in the friendly against QPR at London Colney, but he did against Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium at the weekend.

Arsenal didn’t hide that fact, either. They posted pictures of the player to their Getty feed, which they often avoided doing recently, even when he was in the session.

That makes sense, too. If you know the player won’t make the squad at the weekend, why mess with fan expectations by showing him playing a prominent role in training?

At the very least, it looks like he’s getting a fair chance to prove his worth now. That doesn’t mean Arteta will start him, in fact, I very much doubt he will. But he has the opportunity to push for game time like any other player does.