Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil has reacted to the club's appointment of Mikel Arteta as head coach.
The two midfielders played together under Arsene Wenger prior to the Spaniard's decision to hang up his boots and leave the Emirates Stadium in 2016 to start his coaching career under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
He has now returned to north London after three years in the north west during which time he helped to win two Premier League titles and complete a unique domestic treble working for the ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager.
Prior to leaving Arsenal as a player, he had been a leader in the dressing room as Wenger's captain, and was highly-regarded for his professionalism and intelligence.
In a message posted to his official Twitter account, Ozil tweeted: "Welcome back to the Arsenal family!"
Finding a role for the German, or deciding against including him in his plans, will be one of Arteta's first big decisions.
Unai Emery struggled to get the best out of the 31-year-old, who has been linked with a January loan move to Fenerbahce in Turkey.
Off-the-pitch, Arsenal have sought to distance themselves from Ozil over his social media comments over Uyghur Muslims in China, further complicating the relationship between club and player.
If Arteta were to try and bring a similar game plan as the one he coached at City under Guardiola to Arsenal, the former Real Madrid midfielder could struggle for a place unless he reinvents his game.
Arsenal are understood to interested in hearing offers for the World Cup-winner, even after dismissing Emery in November to ultimately make way for the appointment of their former captain.
Ozil became the club record for the Gunners when he arrived at the Emirates in 2013. Such was the excitement over his signing that fans stopped traffic outside the stadium in a party-like atmosphere on the night the deal was confirmed.
He remains one of the most technically gifted footballers in the Premier League at his best, and is hailed as a genius by supporters who champion his abilities.
The Arsenal player of the season for 2016, he has also developed his own signature finishing style to use his skill to beat goalkeepers by effectively flicking the ball off the surface of the pitch.
In January 2018, during a January transfer window that saw Manchester United swap Henrikh Mkhitaryan for Alexis Sanchez, Ozil signed a new contract to make himself the top earner at the Emirates, further raising expectations around his output.
Since that deal he has struggled to return to the form of his peak when only a dry spell for Olivier Giroud denied him the record for the most assists in a Premier League season.
