Jack Wilshere says a behind-the-scenes falling out could be the reason for Mesut Ozil's Arsenal exile.
The midfielder did not feature for the Gunners since the season restarted in June and was absent for their FA Cup win over Chelsea on Saturday.
It has once again created plenty of speculation over his future, with the 31-year-old clearly out of favour with Mikel Arteta.
Speaking to talkSPORT, former Gunners midfielder Wilshere admitted he was surprised Ozil has been absent for so long.
Arguing that there is nothing wrong with the attacking midfielder's talent, Wilshere speculated it could be due to a behind-the-scenes issue.
"In terms of his footballing ability, I loved playing with him," Wilshere said. "He’s one of my favourite players to play with.
"He’d give you the ball at the right time, the right place.
"So I’m surprised he’s not playing, but I don’t know what’s going on there with that.
"There must be something that we don’t know because I can’t see why he’s not playing in terms of his footballing ability."
West Ham midfielder Wilshere argued that something must be wrong for Arteta to break up a potentially lethal partnership with free-scoring Gunners striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
He said: "Especially with Aubameyang, the type of player he is, you can imagine Ozil sat behind him feeding him balls.
"It would be unbelievable.
"It’s obviously something that we don’t know about. I’m sure Mikel Arteta has definitely got a plan and he’s putting that into practice.
"I’m sure we’re going to find out in the next couple of weeks what’s been going on."
