The lyrics of a Nat King Cole song come to mind in the case of Mesut Ozil, as the embers of his fading Arsenal career about to die, with his imminent departure seemingly weeks away.
“The party’s over
It’s time to call it a day
They’ve burst your pretty balloon
And taken the moon away
It’s time to wind up the masquerade
Just make your mind up the piper must be paid”
Very apt, especially the Masquerade part because everything about Mesut Özil’s planned departure has been handled incredibly badly. If Raul Sanllehi were head of MI5, there would be very few secrets left in the world. Certainly, Arsenal have had issues with their highest-paid player for some time, something that has hardly gone unnoticed.
Bad backs, flu, and other assorted bullshit excuses have finally been dispensed with as the two parties close in on an exit strategy. It’s said that Özil was informed by Edu on behalf of Arteta, that he was no longer in the Spaniard’s long term plans and that it was extremely unlikely that he would feature this season or next, only in emergencies or as cover.
Behind the scenes, there has been a complete breakdown between Arteta and a handful of players. The most recent problem from an Arsenal perspective is Özil’s attempts to manipulate a return through social media.
In reality, there are so many facets to this story that we have already exclusively reported on and which are available for you to read in the attached links.
Arsenal don’t appear to be willing to pave a way back for the German to feature regularly and despite his unwillingness to move, it’s suggested that Ozil is now looking for an escape route. Mesut Ozil has suddenly realised that his Arsenal career will stall permanently, should he not comply and transfer out of Arsenal.