Lukas Podolski has joined the chorus of players criticising the club for their treatment of Mesut Özil.
Özil has been left out of Arsenal’s squads for both the Premier League and Europa League this season, a strange situation for the club’s highest earner to be in.
The German last played for Arsenal before the Coronavirus pandemic, featuring in all the games under Mikel Arteta before the season was halted, but has not featured since.
It means he has almost certainly played his last game for the club, with him now unable to feature until next year at the earliest and potentially leaving in January given his contract expires next summer.
Podolski has now voiced his issue with the situation, saying it’s a pity that such a talented player is sat watching from home.
“I want to know the background, but I generally think with a player who is now in his sixth or seventh year with the club, to kick him completely out of the squad that’s not okay,” he told BILD.
“You don’t do something like that, and I don’t know if something happened in the background or not but even if he’s done something, you don’t do it.
“I don’t know, of course, if there is something going on in the background or not but even if there is something like that you don’t do it, mainly so you can keep his class on the pitch.”
