Arsenal are not in talks to terminate the contract of Mesut Özil before it ends in the summer of 2021, according to reports.

ESPN report that despite reports to the contrary, Arsenal aren’t in talks with Mesut Özil to terminate his contract. The German currently has a deal lasting until next summer, and they’re planning to stick to it.

Earlier this week, Arsenal left Özil out of their Europa League group stage squad. The Premier League squad comes out on October 20th, and it’s unlikely he’ll make that either. There are only so many spots and Mikel Arteta has too many players to choose from.

Arsenal could decide to leave Özil out in the Europa League and another player in the Premier League, but that seems extremely unlikely to me. Why alienate more players just to make the ones you’ve already upset a little bit happier?

The exclusion casts the whole situation in a different light. It’s not just that Özil isn’t playing, but that he couldn’t play even if Arteta changed his mind and wanted him to. He’ll still train and collect his usual wages, but he won’t have any chances on the pitch at all.

Under the circumstances, you could understand if Özil and Arsenal decided it was best to part ways. But they aren’t discussing the matter, and the player is reportedly still focusing on being ready for whenever he can take to the pitch again.