Mikel Arteta has thrown down the gauntlet to Mesut Ozil to finish his Arsenal career on a high in the final year of his contract.
The German midfielder is set to leave Arsenal next summer when his £350,000-per-week deal expires, but he may have already played his last game for the club.
Ozil has not featured in a single minute of action for The Gunners so far this season, and has not even made the squad at all despite being fit and available.
It is now looking increasingly possible that Ozil could be frozen out of first-team action for the entire campaign, but Arteta appears to have offered the 31-year-old a route back into his plans if he is willing to work for it.
"With the players and the squad I have, it is my job to manage it as good as possible and take the maximum performance out of them and have a stable team, emotionally and in terms of performance as well," Arteta said.
"Whoever is here, get the best out of him and the contribution that this player can make to the team."
He added: "The way we manage the squad, we tell everybody the role we expect from them. The players have really good communication with myself and the club.
"A player that doesn’t play is never happy and I don’t want them to be happy, I want them to change it.
"I don’t like the excuse of a lot of competition. Just do it on the pitch."
Ozil has seen a number of other players leapfrog him in the pecking order, including several youngsters and new arrivals.
Some stars at the club have managed to prove their worth to their manager, with Arteta making U-turns on selling both Rob Holding and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, while keeping Eddie Nketiah rather than sending him back on loan.
Should Ozil be getting a game at Arsenal? Have your say below.
"It’s always the balance of how much are you giving, how much are you willing to sacrifice and work in order to achieve if your dream is to play for Arsenal Football Club," Arteta continued. "I think we have some really good examples with what happened with Eddie, Ainsley, Joe [Willock], Bukayo [Saka], Dani Ceballos and Holding.
"So it’s about that. When I see a player really willing and really trying and really making their only emphasis to be to contribute to the team and try to raise the performance of himself and the collective side, they’re going to have a chance."
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