Arsenal will not include Mesut Ozil in its Europa League lineup when the final squad is announced on Thursday, a report said. The veteran midfielder has not played a single minute since the games resumed after the lockdown.
Ozil is the highest-paid player on the club, earning an estimated $452,000 a week, BBC reported.
The Europa League only allows 17 non-locally trained players in the 25-man lineup. Goal reported that Mikel Arteta decided to leave out Ozil and defender Sokratis to make room in the squad.
Ozil last featured for the Gunners in the win against West Ham in March before the football season was suspended due to the global pandemic. Throughout the 31-year-old’s career, he’s served Arsenal in 254 games, netted 44 goals and tallied 77 assists. But while he’s been with the Gunners since 2013, he hasn’t been utilized much in 2020.
When asked why the German player hasn’t been seeing action on the field, Arteta replied by pointing out how their team is changing.
“The team is evolving, you can see the level they are achieving. This is where we are at the moment. We want to evolve more and play better and compete better,” Arteta told a news conference in September.
“You can see that the players we are changing, we are using, it’s very difficult every week not just for Mesut but for some other players as well to make the squad. Every week we try to pick the right players,” he continued.
The Arsenal manager added that he wants to give other players more time and experience as well.
“It’s difficult for others as well that aren’t involved in the Premier League and didn’t play tonight either. We have a squad of 26, 27 players at the moment and we can’t give playing time to all of them,” the 38-year-old coach shared.
“I understand and I respect your questions but I have to try to do my job as fair as possible. I try to select the players that are, in my opinion, in better condition,” Arteta concluded.
Arsenal’s Europa League campaign will start on Oct. 22 when the club faces Rapid Wien in Austria.
