Former Premier League winner Joe Cole believes Arsenal boss Unai Emery can’t afford not to fancy Mesut Ozil at the minute.
Ozil was notably absent from his side's matchday squad for their clash against Vitoria in the Europa League on Thursday night.
The former Germany international's last competitive appearance for the Gunners came on September 24 in their 5-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup - while he has been restricted to just one Premier League outing in 2019-20, that coming against Watford back in August.
And Cole believes a “honest conversation” needs to be had between all parties because the Gunners need him.
“I just think can he afford not to fancy him,” the former Chelsea and West Ham man told BT Sport.
“We can’t doubt Mesut Ozil’s ability, for what he’s done and what he has achieved in the game. .
“The situation is what the situation is. Maybe they panicked and gave him a contract - reportedly £300,000 a week, to try and keep him as they didn’t want to lose him like they have done.
“But now all of a sudden they don’t want to pay him £300,000 a week. Is there someone upstairs saying to the gaffer 'can we try and sell him?'.
“Then it gets into a game of cat and mouse. They just need to have an honest conversation, Ozil, his agent, the gaffer, the owners. This is the situation, you have three years left, let’s get playing because Arsenal need him.”
