Unai Emery denies rift with Arsenal star

There were reports that he had a training ground row with the player

Mesut Ozil joined Arsenal from Real Madrid for a reported fee of £42.5 million, signing a five-year deal in 2013. He has been a mainstay in the midfield since joining the club and has won 3 FA Cups.

The German International featured regularly for the Gunners last season, scoring 4 goals and providing 8 assists in 26 Premier League appearances. However, the club finished 6th in the league and will miss the Champions League in the upcoming season.

The 29 year old has had a difficult summer after feeling persecuted for Germany’s early exit from the World Cup where his meeting with Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan was cited as a reason for the poor performances.

He even decided to retire from International football and was criticized by several senior officials in the German Football Association.

The playmaker featured in both the club’s opening Premier League games against Chelsea and Manchester but struggled to make any impact. They lost both the matches.

He was heavily criticized for his performances this week and there were even reports that the player had a training ground row with manager Unai Emery.

He was even left out of the squad against West Ham United as the London Outfit won their first Premier League campaign this season. This further intensified the speculations that there is some differences between the manager and the player.

But Emery has denied the rift between him and Ozil and revealed that it was due to illness, with the German being present in the stadium.

The 46 year old said as quoted by Sky Sports: “Why is this information (out there)?. It isn’t true. I don’t know who is telling you this information.

“He sat down with me and we decided that he would not play. He left training because he was going to his home because he is sick.”