Ozil call-up is either a huge U-turn by Arsenal boss Emery or desperate smoke screen to divert attention from Xhaka row
Sponsored by
MESUT OZIL is back in the Arsenal squad and in line to make his first team return at Liverpool this evening.
He has been put in cold storage for so long by Unai Emery that he will need defrosting before his Anfield run-out.
Ozil’s unexpected call-up represents a significant U-turn by a manager who, as well as being accused of killing Arsenal's heritage with "boring" football, has been doing all he can to drive him out of the club.
It was only five days ago that Emery revealed that he had reached an “agreed strategy” with the club’s hierarchy to justify Ozil’s absence from his squad.
Of the 25 players selected by Emery this season, none have enjoyed fewer than the 142 minutes of action which Ozil has so far managed.
Even Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Nacho Monreal have played more than the club’s highest-paid star - and they both left in August.
So what has promoted Emery’s dramatic change of heart about a player who only last week Tweeted ‘You make me laugh’ after being told he would not be involved against Vitoria Guimaraes?
Could it possibly have anything to do with the absolute s*** storm generated by Granit Xhaka’s Emirates meltdown on Sunday?
Only a cold-hearted cynic would see Emery’s sudden eagerness to put Ozil centre stage as a desperate smoke screen to divert attention from the Xhaka chatter.
But it does seem strange that he is only too happy to talk at length about Ozil when only last week he insisted: “Now is not the time to speak of this.”
He even hinted that Ozil could captain the team at Anfield this evening, although Hector Bellerin is far more likely to wear the armband.
Yet his mere presence in the squad will be welcomed by the majority of supporters, many of whom chanted for Ozil’s return towards the end of the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace on Sunday.
latest arsenal news
The former German international has not kicked a ball in anger since the 5-0 win against Nottingham Forest in the last round of the Carabao Cup on September 24.
Arsenal have played six games since then and Ozil hasn’t even made the subs’ bench.
Now he has the chance to show the world what he still has to offer. It is an opportunity he has to take with both hands.