Mikel Arteta says Mesut Ozil will be back in his Arsenal team when he proves he wants to perform at his top level.
The German was left out of the matchday squad for Wednesday night's 3-0 defeat at Manchester City, with Arteta stating afterwards he had been left in London for ‘tactical reasons’.
Speaking to the press on Thursday night ahead of Saturday’s game at Brighton, Arsenal’s head coach expanded on his reasons for omitting Ozil from his squad and admitted he wants to see more from the 31-year-old in training.
“I have been very open with Mesut from day one,” said Arteta. “Since I joined I thought that he was fit and he was willing and he wanted to perform at the level he can do.
“The moment I see that he is ready again to do that, I will treat him like anybody else.
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“I think I've been more than fair with him and I think he has responded in many games the way I want. That’s it.”
When asked why he believes Ozil has not been at the required level in training since the players returned from lockdown, Arteta added: “There's a lot that's happened to him in the last few weeks and I have to respect the time for every player. Sometimes they need a little bit of time.
“It's been a difficult preparation the last two months to get players ready and again, I'm the first one who wants Mesut at his best. I'm going to put him on the pitch when I think he can give his best.
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“My conversations with Mesut will remain between me and him. What I can tell you is that it was a completely fine, honest and clear conversation. He was very well with me. There were no issues at all.”
Arsenal’s defeat on Wednesday night leaves them ninth in the table ahead of Saturday’s trip to Brighton, eight points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea and five behind Manchester United in fifth.
With just nine games remaining in the league, it’s looking more and more unlikely that they will qualify for the Champions League - but Arteta isn’t ready to give up just yet.
“I said before that we started after the virus from a position that we have a lot of teams in front of us,” he said. “We have to go game by game.
“Last night is over and we have to learn from what happened. We have to analyse the game as it happened as well, and be fair on our analysis.
“You can see the difference at the moment, in the process, in terms of the squad. That takes a little bit of time to get there.”
Arteta added: “I think in the first 30 or 35 minutes [against City], we competed really well.
“We were a threat and we made it very difficult for them but at this level, when you give something to that kind of opposition they're not going to make any mistakes.
“From now on, game by game, it's still the same ambition and that's to win the next game. A lot of things are happening between them. Let's see what happens.”