Mikel Arteta Refuses to Rule Out Arsenal Return for Mesut Ozil

Mikel Arteta has hinted that Mesut Ozil will have the opportunity to revive his Arsenal career in the second half of the season, revealing he has not yet decided what to do with the out-of-favour playmaker.

Ozil hasn't featured at all for the Gunners this season and has been frozen out by Arteta, who omitted the World Cup winner from his 25-man Premier League squad at the start of the 2020/21 campaign.

Ozil has, however, been highly supportive of his teammates on Twitter. Publicly he remains committed to the cause, but privately, it is thought he has one eye on the exit door, with Fenerbahce reportedlyconfident of making a deal happen in January.

He is under contract until the summer, but at this stage it appears highly unlikely his stay will be extended given he has barely featured at all under Arteta. The only hope of that situation changing is if he can make an impact in the second half of the season, and that's something his manager is reluctant to rule out.

"He's not in the squad right now. I'm focusing just on the players we have here," Arteta said in his press conference. "But, whatever happens in January, we have some time to decide."

The manager has previously hinted at an 'unpredictable' January window. An Ozil revival, at this stage, would certainly be unpredictable.

“We are planning, talking with [sporting director] Edu and with the club about the things we can do in January. But at the moment it's pretty difficult, unpredictable as well in terms of places we are very restricted in the moment.

“We’ll see what happens, I think things will move in the market, we will be prepared, we will need to do something knowing the limitations of that market in January and the limitations we have as well to sign players.”