Arsenal legend Ian Wright has expressed his sadness at Mesut Ozil's current plight at the club - but admits Mikel Arteta's decisiveness over dropping the German midfielder has impressed him.
Ozil has not played for the Gunners since March, and after being left out of their Premier League and Europa League squads he is now not able to feature again until February at the earliest.
With his lucrative £350,000-a-week contract set to expire in June, it appears as though Ozil's time at Arsenal will come to a somewhat undignified and anti-climactic end.
Speaking to Premier League Productions, Wright could not hide his disappointment with how things have turned out.
But he also admitted to admiring the ruthlessness of Arteta in his decision-making.
"It’s a shame," Wright said. "From a professional point of view I’m gutted for Ozil because for some reason they can’t settle their differences.
"At the same time you’ve got to admire the manager sticking to his guns. He’s the one that’s said 'Listen: This is my decision’.
"For whatever reason he doesn’t want to play Mesut. It’s a shame because he’s a quality player."
"Sometimes it just happens like that. Unfortunately for Mesut as a professional he wants to play football it won’t happen here.
"From what Mikel is trying to do Arsenal fans have to concentrate on now, it’s all about the team and the progression of the team."
It remains to be seen if Arsenal find a buyer for Ozil in January or if he continues to spend the rest of the season stuck on the bench.
The Gunners certainly appeared to struggle without his creativity on Sunday as they fell to a 1-0 home defeat to Leicester, and they have now managed to score just four goals in their last four Premier League games.
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