Press conference

Arteta discusses the latest on Mesut Ozil

Much of Mikel Arteta's press conference on Wednesday was dominated by talk of one man: Mesut Ozil.

Our manager was quizzed about the playmaker's next move, whether he could leave the club this month and more.

 

This is what he said:

 

on Mesut Ozil's future...

I don't know what is going to happen. Obviously now he's free to negotiate with other clubs. We will discuss internally what the best situation for him is for the near future, obviously with the player and the agent too, and try to find the best solution for everyone.



on whether he would want to play every game if he was in Ozil's shoes...

I think every player wants to play football. This is why we picked this profession and we are so lucky to be doing what we do. For every player that's not playing, it's always hard.

on whether Ozil could still stay...

I'm saying we will decide what's happening in the next few days.

 

on young players taking Ozil's place...

We need every player that is involved in our squad. The fact that the youngsters are involved in the squad means that they have the level to compete with any player in that squad. The young players have moments through the season. It's really difficult for them to be constantly at the level for 10 months, but sometimes players develop, players have moments and you have to take those moments. If that means that they're pushing somebody else, I think it's really healthy competition for the team. The team always gets better when something like that happens so I think it's really positive news.

 

on whether it would be good for everyone if a deal for Mesut was done…

If something was sorted this month, it’s because it is good for both parties, it is good for Mesut and his future, and it’s good for the club. If that’s the case, we will move forward, of its not the case the player will stay here.

 

on whether Ozil is training…

He has been training with us, but he had some days because we decided to give him some days for something personal, but he has been training with us all the time.

 

on whether he is aware Ozil is talking to other clubs…

We are aware of all the conversations we have had internally with Mesut and his agent, and this communication keeps going and of course he is free to talk to any club and he is entitled to do this.

 

on whether Mesut Ozil could be involved on Saturday…

We’ll decide what we do.



on whether a decision has to be made on Ozil ASAP…

The decision has to be made when you have to reduce the list of players, when you have to play them or not play them all the time. We know that we have a really important player who is one of the key players in the past few seasons for this football club. We have to make a decision, I had to make a decision and I made it. I knew the consequences of it and now we’re going to have to make another one in January, and we will just putting the balance on what is the best thing for the club and the best thing for the team, and what the intentions of the player are, and we will try to find the right solutions for that.

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