Mesut Ozil was left out of the Arsenal Europa League squad submission and with just days before head coach Mikel Arteta submits his Premier League squad there is uncertainty over whether the playmaker will be included.
One Arsenal fan decided to start up a petition to get Ozil including in the Europa League and Premier League squads.
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There is pretty much no chance of the playmaker being included in the Europa League squad considering the 25-man team has already been submitted.
But the 32-year-old could still make the Premier League squad.
Sam Neil-Perry, who began the petition, wrote:
“To, Arsenal Football Club, Mikel Arteta, Edu Gaspar, Vinai Venkatesham, Josh Kroenke, Stan Kroenke.
“Petition to include Mesut Ozil in the Arsenal Premier League and Europa League squads for 2020/2021 season.
“We as concerned Arsenal fans would like to see long time servant of the club Mesut Ozil registered to play in the Premier League and the Europa League this season..
“Prior to the Covid 19 crisis, Mesut was a regular starter for Arsenal. However, since football has restarted he has not played a single minute and now has not made the substitute’s bench so far this season.
“He was recently left out of Arsenal’s Europa League squad for the group stages which means he will not be eligible to play in that stage of the competition.
“We fear that the club may do the same for the Premier League squad and we will not get to see him play this season.
“We feel this would be deeply sad. Mesut has played for the club for seven years, played 254 games, scored 44 goals and assisted 77 times.
“He has helped us win 4 FA cups and is extremely popular with fans with a social media following of 78 million people.
“He is involved in many charity projects around the world and is responsible for bringing in countless new Arsenal fans to the club.
“It has been speculated that non footballing issues are affecting his selection.
“These include-
“His questioning of a proposed 12.5% pay cut for the players.
“His weekly wage and possible appearance bonuses.
“His statement in solidarity with the Uighur Muslims in China.
“We deeply hope that this is not the case and we ask Arsenal football club to reinstate Mesut Ozil back into the first team squad so fans can watch him play during the final year of his contract.
“Yours,
“Concerned Arsenal fans.”
So far over 5,400 people have signed the petition but I doubt it will influence Arteta’s decision.
Ozil is paid £350,000-a-week and has 12 months left on his contract so it would be an expensive decision to completely leave him out of the squad.
The playmaker has not featured for Arsenal since March.
Arteta has not used Ozil since the return of football following the coronavirus disruptions.