Mikel Arteta won’t be influenced by Ozil’s wages

Arsenal manager insists Mesut Ozil will not be selected based on his enormous salary.

The former Germany international collects a reported weekly salary of £350,000, but has yet to play a minute of football for the Gunners since the season resumed.

Arteta emphasizes on the fact that a player’s wages never comes to his mind when it comes to selecting a squad for a match day.

“Never,” said Arteta. “That is an agreement that the player and club were happy to do, to move ahead and it is never [one] that I question.

“I think players are paid whatever they deserve because there are two parties here and that should never be something I have to judge.

“I want all my players at their best and to have the ability to be able to pick them to help the squad as much as possible and that’s the only intention I have.

“I believe that he’s not very happy because he’s not playing but as well he picked up an injury the other day and we have to wait and see how he evolves.”

Ozil was a teammate of the Arsenal boss during his playing days at Arsenal and Arteta seemed to be a lifeline for the German playmaker. The German often found himself sidelined under Unai Emery but was brought back to the squad and featured in all 10 games before the coronavirus suspension in March. 

The former Real Madrid didn’t feature in any of the last four games since the restart but Arteta is well aware of the qualities the German possesses.

“I know him really well because I played with him,” he said. “Mesut has unique qualities. He is a very special player for the position he plays, how specific he is in the qualities that he has and what he can bring to the team. I don’t think much has changed.

“Obviously he adapted to the league and he needed some time but he started to perform pretty quickly and he established himself in this league for a long time, something that is not easy to do.”

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