Robbie Walls
Mikel Arteta has admitted he’s determined not to see Arsenal get into a Mesut Ozil-type scenario again, amid the end of what’s been a long-running saga involving the former Germany international.
The former Real Madrid man had plenty of memorable moments since his arrival at the Emirates in 2013, although recent years had seen fall right down the pecking order under a succession of managers.
Despite being handed a new contract in 2018 – making him the Arsenal’s highest-paid player ever – the last few years have seen the playmaker struggle with injury and for regular game time, as the club struggled to move him.
Under new boss Arteta, Ozil has hardly had a look in, with the Spaniard leaving his former teammate out of both of the Gunners Premier League and Europa League squads.
That left the 32-year-old out in the cold going into the final year of his contract, with the club finally agreeing to terminate his current deal earlier this month, in order to allow to make a move to Turkish Super Lig side Fenerbache.
While that deal is not quite complete, the fact that the player is no longer Arsenal‘s problem will be a relief for many, with Arteta revealing that he hopes that for everybody’s sake such a scenario doesn’t occur in the future.
“You don’t want to get into this position again, that’s for sure,” Arteta said. “Not for the player, not for the club. But it’s happening more and more at every club.
— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) January 17, 2021
“You have to have that communication open, obviously to prevent it as much as possible and if they happen, just make a decision and don’t try to delay a situation that is not working for much longer.”
With the current transfer window in full swing, Arteta has already allowed the likes of Ozil, Saed Kolasinac and Sokratis to depart the club as he looks to build a new team after some ‘complicated’ transfer windows in recent times.
“We are trying to create a really strong team with different qualities that hopefully is going to give us more sustainability and success in our decisions,” he added.
“Sometimes it’s impossible to see what’s going to happen in three years’ time. We tried to resolve those situations early in the summer, to try and avoid what we had but sometimes it’s not possible.
“This transfer window and the previous one were really complicated and I’d have to assume we have responsibility with those players and we have to respond to our obligations. That’s what we did until the moment we found a solution.”
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