There is very little room for nuance in the discourse around modern football. Nowhere has that become more apparent than in the recent debate over Mesut Ozil's career at Arsenal.
The German is either a spirited martyr in exile for 'non-footballing reasons' or a financial albatross around the necks of the Gunners as they seek to move on from the Arsene Wenger era.
The reality is of course somewhere in between.
You can't talk about Ozil's time in north London without mentioning the good times. Four FA Cups, 77 assists and numerous occasions where camera lenses simply weren't wide enough to match his creative genius.
But at the same time it would be disingenuous to imply that he has played no part in the messy way in which things have ended. Conveniently timed 'illnesses' and a PR war against the club on social media have soured his legacy among those within the club and many outside it.
Football moves fast though and as Ozil looks set to confirm his move to Fenerbahce in the coming days, the reality is that he is now Arsenal's past at a time when they are building for the future.
His downfall under Mikel Arteta, who left him out of the Gunners' Premier League and Europa League squad, following a period of post-project restart exile, stems not from the quality of the player. That has never been in question. Ozil's issue has been one of attitude.
From the very beginning of his reign at the Emirates, Arteta set out his stall in stating that he wanted each and every member of his Arsenal squad to live by a certain code.
"There are some non-negotiables," he said. "The demands we put on the team, the commitment, the energy we put in, that dominance."
Ozil was given a chance to comply with new rule of law, starting all but one of Arteta's opening 13 games in charge. But early on the Spaniard began to hint that what Arsenal's number 10 was producing on the pitch was not quite up to the standards he required.
“I think it goes both ways,” said Arteta after a mid-season training camp in Dubai. “The team cannot have the right structure to support him if he doesn’t do some of those non-negotiables.
“If he does them, then the team can afford to have someone like him to make the difference."
There has been a bit of folklore about what blanket term of non-negotiables actually means, but in an interview with Trillium Rose over the initial lockdown, Arteta's assistant Steve Round was prepared to elaborate.
“Discipline, self-discipline and making sure that our behaviour, positive behaviours are continually reinforced," he said. "Negative behaviours are pulled up, there are certain things we will not accept."
It is clear that Arteta's desire was to create a dressing room culture where no one player was deemed to be above anyone else. No matter your status the expectation is that you will follow the rules.
Sadly it seems as though Ozil wasn't ready to play ball.
When asked in 2016 about who was the teacher's pet to then manager Wenger, Aaron Ramsey offered an intriguing insight into what the German was allowed to get away with in his initial period at the club.
"He gets a few extra days off than the rest of us," said the Welshman.
"He's always in the boss' [Arsene Wenger] room asking for something or whatever and he seems to get it."
When you compare that attitude of indulgence to the structure of self-discipline Arteta, Round and Edu are trying to instil, the two simply don't compute.
It's true that Arteta hasn't exactly been immaculate with how he's tried to enforce his 'non-negotiables.'
The decision to start Willian against Leeds after an unsolicited trip to Dubai over the international break, for example, does not exactly smack of the equality the Spaniard is trying to preach.
But as he tries to build a squad that is more in his own image the reality is that there is simply no room for a player with Ozil's approach.
The German's departure will now finally allow Arteta to create a side that is more in line with the future he envisions for Arsenal.
