Mesut Ozil is not an ‘a***hole’ and is a good character’, says former Arsenal team-mate Lukas Podolski
LUKAS PODOLSKI has slammed the criticism faced by his former team-mate Mesut Ozil.
Podolski insists the Arsenal No 10 “is not an a**hole” following the backlash in response to him rejecting the club’s pay-cut proposals.
In April, club officials asked players to take a reduction in their wages following the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on domestic football.
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However, Ozil has come in for fierce criticism after refusing to take a year-long cut to his £350,000-a-week salary.
The World Cup winner, 31, insists it is because the club failed to provide sufficient background details for him to agree to.
Last week the Arsenal playmaker told The Athletic “people have been trying to destroy” him for two years.
“He's good enough (to be their main man) with support from the coach and the team, but something has happened with the club, you can feel that.
Lukas Podolski
And his close friend Podolski, who was his team-mate for Arsenal and Germany, says “it’s a shame” this situation has arisen
Podolski, 35, told the Athletic: “He's a good character — he's not an a**hole.
“He doesn't do interviews where he speaks badly of his team-mates or of Arsenal and it's a shame we have this situation because everyone is losing.
“Ozil is sat in the stands, Arsenal are paying him and there is no winner.”
Ozil, who joined Arsenal in a £42.3million move from Real Madrid in 2013, has not played in Mikel Arteta’s first team since football returned to action in June.
This term the gifted playmaker made just 23 appearances for the Gunners across all competitions.
This is in stark contrast to the 2018-19 season with the star appearing in 35 games for the club.
Arteta, 38, insists Ozil's lack of match time is purely football-related.
Ozil featured in the Arsenal boss’ first 10 games in charge before dropping down the pecking order, with some claiming it was because of the pay-cut row.
On Ozil’s recent omission from the team Podolski said: “He's good enough (to be their main man) with support from the coach and the team, but something has happened with the club, you can feel that.
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“Is he in a disagreement with the club?
“When I talk to him, we don't want to talk to him about that kind of stuff.
"It's his situation, him and his agent have to deal with that.”