FORMER Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski has slammed the club’s treatment of Mesut Ozil.
Ozil has not played for the Gunners since March and has been left out of boss Mikel Arteta’s Premier League and Europa League squads this season – despite being the club’s highest earner on £350,000-a-week.
Podolski shared a dressing room with both Ozil and Arteta during his time at the Emirates and is disappointed with the way his former Germany team-mate has been ostracised in north London.
Podolski told Bild: “I want to know the background, but I generally think with a player who is now in his sixth or seventh year with the club, to kick him completely out of the squad that’s not okay.
“You don’t do something like that, and I don’t know if something happened in the background or not but even if he’s done something, you don’t do it.
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“I don’t know, of course, if there is something going on in the background or not.
“But even if there is something like that you don’t do it, mainly so you can keep his class on the pitch.”
Ozil’s Arsenal contract expires at the end of the season but he could seek a move in January if his circumstances don’t improve.
Last month, the 32-year-old took to Instagram to express his feelings about the situation, criticising Arsenal over a lack of loyalty towards him.
The ex-Real Madrid midfielder featured regularly under Arteta after the Spaniard’s arrival in December 2019, but the Arsenal manager admitted he felt like he had ‘failed’ to get the best out of Ozil – hence his omission.
Arteta said: “My job is to get the best out of every player, to contribute to the team performance. Here I feel at the moment, today, that I have failed.
“I want the best possible Mesut for the team. And in some moments I was able to get close to that, and at the moment I have not been able to do it because I have to make the decision to leave him out of the squad.”
Despite his differences with the club, Ozil has been showing his support for his teammates with regular social media posts during Arsenal matches.
