Mikel Arteta's handling of Mesut Ozil's Arsenal exit has often sparked plenty of discussions, but what is rarely mentioned is how it arguably changed the way the Geman international viewed the Gunners.
At his peak, Ozil was the superstar of the Arsenal team then under the rule of Arsene Wenger. However, things declined quickly for the mercurial playmaker following the Frenchman's departure and the subsequent appointment of Unai Emery.
Wenger's successor never really took a liking to Ozil and publicly said as much when he told the media that he felt the former Real Madrid man and World Cup winner was "a bit below the top players at the moment" after dropping him from the squad for one game.
Once Emery was sacked in November 2019 and replaced by Arteta a month later, the Ozil-optimists harboured plenty of faith that given the new boss was a former team-mate of the midfielder's that better days were ahead.
"He's a massive player for this football club," Arteta told the world's media during his first press conference as Arsenal boss. "As I said before, what I want is to understand how they are feeling and what they need. It's not so much about what I need.
"You have to understand them. Sometimes with conversation, you get to understand a point. When you understand them, I can take the excuses out of them and focus on the things that are relevant and have an impact on the team on and off the pitch."
Things didn't exactly play out according to plan and Arteta soon slowly exiled Ozil from the first-team fold. Despite the fact the midfielder was on an eye-watering £350,000 per-week, his manager just wanted something different.
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A different profile altogether in fact, as the signing of Willian proved.
Arteta seemed to be of the same belief as many others at the time that the traditional number 10 role was a dying art and therefore deemed Ozil surplus to requirements.
Even when it became clear Willian was not the right fit for Arsenal, Arteta stood firm and refused to reintegrate Ozil into his side despite so many calls from fans and pundits alike urging him to do so.
Ozil could do little more than watch on, though the German ace did make a habit out of tweeting his response to games he played no part in.
One that stands out was his tweet in the aftermath of a comfortable win away at West Brom in early 2021, as it started to show that Ozil was coming to terms with the fact the Gunners were moving on from him.
He wrote: "Nice game my boys! Great spirit - three wins in a row. Team looks good with a No.10 like Emile Smith Rowe - the difference maker."
Some suggested that the post was actually a subtle jab in the direction of Arteta over how he was wrong to think the Gunners could thrive without a central-attacking-midfielder and wrong to freeze Ozil out.
Others regarded the tweet as Ozil's first acknowledgement that there was a new number 10 in town in Smith Rowe and that his own chapter at Arsenal was all but over.
Just weeks later, Ozil and Arsenal reached an agreement to terminate his Gunners contract and he bid farewell to join boyhood club Fenerbahce.
He lasted one season there before joining Istanbul Basaksehir but has since called time on his playing days entirely at the age of 34.
