Arsenal legend Ian Wright believes Mesut Ozil is the "perfect player" to play in Mikel Arteta's system, but fears there is no way back for the midfielder.
Ozil was hoping to be involved in Arsenal's opening day victory over Fulham after featuring in a pre-season defeat to Aston Villa, but the German was left out of the squad entirely, with his last official appearance coming back in March.
Arteta offered hope to the likes of Ozil and fellow midfielder Matteo Guendouzi - who has also been frozen out of the Arsenal squad - stating every player in the squad "starts from zero" at the start of the season.
However, with Dani Ceballos returning on loan for another season and Mohamed Elneny reinstated to the team following his loan at Besiktas, it seems likely Ozil will remain on the periphery of the squad.
Wright believes his omission is not down to his ability, describing the 31-year-old as the "perfect" midfielder for Arteta.
In Pictures | Fulham vs Arsenal | 12/09/2020
"If you could have got Mesut Ozil onside in this particular team, with the way the manager thinks and the intensity that we now have, he is literally the perfect player," he told the Kelly and Wrighty Show.
“But it doesn't seem like that is going to happen. It doesn't seem like there is any way back for Ozil. I was in the ground the other day and he was walking around, he looked happy enough.
“The confusing thing for me is that everybody knows that if you do buy into Arteta's game plan, then you're probably going to get in there.
“I just find it really sad that nobody is able to convince him or make him understand that, even if you are going to leave. At the end of the day, he's still paid to be a footballer for the club.
“If it's his attitude isn't right in training or whatever, we've seen that Arteta will play them if they do show that, so I find it devastating that we can't find someone to get him to understand how integral he could be to this style at Arsenal.”
