Mesut Ozil’s Agent Slams Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta
Since March, eyes have been on the relationship between Arsenal FC and Mesut Ozil. He has not made an appearance for the club since March. Now Ozil’s agent has slammed Mikel Arteta for lack of loyalty, respect, and honesty.
Ozil’s agent, Erkut Sogut, has made claims about Arteta lying as to why Ozil has been left out of the lineup since March. Arteta told ESPN that the decision was solely for soccer reasons, but Sogut refuted the claim.
“Arsenal fans deserve an honest explanation, not [Arteta] saying ‘I failed Ozil.’ You didn’t fail Ozil: you failed to be fair, honest and transparent and treat someone with respect who has a contract and was loyal all the time,” Sogut said.
“Every single person outside knows he hasn’t treated him fairly. He didn’t give him a chance to show himself this season. If he is still under contract, the player should have the option to stay and fight for his place. Mesut hasn’t been given that. Why would you put a player on the bench twice for 90 minutes [against Brighton and Crystal Palace in June] if he wasn’t fit or committed?
“Everyone says he’s training well. Per Mertesacker said this publicly. I spoke with at least five teammates who say he is training great. They say Mesut is one of their best players, and they cannot understand why he is left out. So it can’t be the training — if it is not the pitch, what are the footballing reasons? If you talk, you should tell the truth that the Arsenal fans deserve otherwise don’t talk at all.”
Arteta argues that Ozil hasn’t been on the pitch because he doesn’t feel like Ozil contributes to better the team. The manager was hired to win matches, competitions, and build projects. Arteta argues that Ozil has had the same opportunities as everyone else.
Sogut pointed out that Arteta didn’t play in his final season in the English Premier League (EPL). By that point, he was being paid not to play and meeting with coaches to plan out his future. Sogut also argued that Arteta’s only loyalty is to the Gunners, not the players.
Ozil had released a statement after being omitted from the squad and pointed out the club’s lack of loyalty. He also didn’t hold back from pointing the finger at Arteta.
However, Ozil and the club have had several public falling outs. A Sportsmail exclusive revealed that the former German international believes that he had been omitted from both squads because of its commercial interests in China.
Last December, Ozil condemned China on the allegations of mistreatment of Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang province in an Instagram post. Arsenal quickly deleted the post, but it had damaging commercial consequences for the club.
Arsenal has a severe commercial interest in China. They have a restaurant chain and an official lottery partner and vehicle, provider.
China also took action to omit Ozil from the computer game. They also didn’t air Arsenal’s following match against Manchester City on TV.
Fans also slammed Ozil for not taking a 12.5% pay cut in April. The club had to make cuts to 55 staff members, scouts, and the mascot Gunnersaurus.
Sogut was quick to defend Ozil saying, “You have to understand the bigger picture. The [Uighur situation] created problems for the whole Premier League, not just Arsenal. He expected to get more support from the club. It is not talking about politics, it is about human rights, putting people in detention centers. Imagine a football player comes out and says ‘this is inhumane.’ Is that politics or empathy?
“You wouldn’t expect a club with class to make 55 people redundant just after winning the FA Cup or sacking a mascot after 27 years of service, just before making a £45million signing.”
Former Arsenal players also came out to support Ozil. Jack Wilshere defended his former-teammate by insisting that he remains the “best player” at the club. Then Cesc Fabregas argued that Ozil is one of the five best players in the club’s recent past.
The club has offered to let Ozil leave the club, but he has refused. Ozil still tries to find a way onto Arteta’s lineup. But the outlook looks grim.
