Mikel Arteta insists he has been "honest" with Mesut Ozil despite the player's agent claiming there has been a lack of transparency over his exile from the Arsenal squad.
Ozil, 32, has been left out of the Gunners' Premier League and Europa League squads, and it appears unlikely he will ever feature for the club again.
The German hit out at Arteta and the Arsenal hierarchy this week, prompting the Gunners boss to respond by admitting he "failed" to get the best out of every player.
But those comments did not satisfy Ozil's agent, Dr Erkut Sogut, who took aim at Arteta and said "Arsenal fans deserve an honest explanation" of the situation.
In light of Sogut's comments, Arteta has again moved to explain why Ozil has been frozen out at the Emirates, while insisting he has been honest with the playmaker throughout the process.
“If you have to lead, they have to trust you," Arteta said ahead of his side's Sunday evening clash with Leicester.
"In order for them to trust you, you have to be honest. You have to be clear and you have to be able to tell people, face to face, the good and bad news.
Has there been a lack of transparency about Ozil's situation? Have your say here.
“Then you have to be consistent in what you say, the demands you put in and what you apply.
“When things happen, you applaud them and then when they don’t, there are consequences. Then you create a culture and within that culture people have to be accountable.
“People have to step up and they have to demand the standards we need of each other from this football club in order to be successful.”
In his full interview, Sogut reaffirmed Ozil's loyalty to Arsenal and refused to shut the door on the player being registered for action in January.
Following his criticism of Arteta, the agent added: "He could have left for another club like Alexis Sanchez. He could have left and got a £30m signing-on fee as a free agent at the peak of his career. But he stayed loyal.
"Maybe the club will change their position in January and register him. You never know what will happen."
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