Mikel Arteta says it is difficult for Mesut Ozil to make Arsenal's matchday squad as the team evolve under his management.
The German - Arsenal's highest-paid player - has not played a minute since the Premier League resumed after lockdown in June and was again absent from the squad for the Gunners' 2-0 Carabao Cup win over Leicester on Wednesday.
Ozil is in the final year of his contract at Arsenal and has shown no intention of forcing his way out before it expires, despite his chances of getting back into the team looking slimmer by the day.
"I try to select the players that are, in my opinion, in better condition," Arteta said of Ozil's omission for the 17th consecutive game.
"You can see that the players we are changing, we are using, it's very difficult every week, not for Mesut but for some other players as well to make the squad. Every week we try to pick the right players.
"It's difficult for others as well that aren't involved in the Premier League and didn't play tonight either. We have a squad of 26, 27 players at the moment and we can't give playing time to all of them.
"The team is evolving, you can see the level they are achieving. This is where we are at the moment. We want to evolve more and play better and compete better. We have to keep maintaining that.
"We are picking the players that we believe are the best for each game. You can see we keep training, it's what we're trying to do."
