Freddie Ljungberg would not have selected Mesut Ozil for his Arsenal squad to face Everton even if he was fit.
The 31-year-old was a notable absentee from the squad that travelled to Goodison Park on Saturday, with commentary of the match live on talkSPORT.
Interim manager Ljungberg said the playmaker has an injury but would not have been included anyway.
He told BT Sport: “Mesut wouldn’t have been in the squad anyway given what happened in the last game.”
Ozil was not happy when he was substituted in Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat to Man City and showed some dissent when Ljungberg removed him.
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown accused Ozil of faking an injury to save himself the embarrassment of being benched against Everton.
When asked about Ozil’s alleged knock, Keown said: “I’m not convinced to be honest.
“What I will say is Freddie Ljungberg has managed with a great deal of dignity and calm in very difficult circumstances.
“Ozil is one of those issues, one of those problems. Arteta has got to manage that.
“He went off the pitch against City, he wasn’t best pleased, he didn’t look particularly injured on that occasion.
“He’s probably just taken himself out of it because he thinks that Freddie wouldn’t play him.”
He has hit the headlines for several different reasons in the last fortnight.
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Ozil was outspoken about China’s persecution of the Uighur population, which led to their game last week not being shown on Chinese TV.
The north London club then distanced themselves from his social media post and he was removed from PES 2020 in China.
Unai Emery also spoke out about why he consistently left Ozil out of his teams at the Emirates.
He is their highest ever paid player but was often omitted from their matchday squads.
Emery told BBC Sport: “He has talent that allows other players to be better, but when you want a bit more aggressive pressure he does not have the best qualities for that.”
Saturday is GameDay on talkSPORT as we bring you THREE live Premier League commentaries across our network, including Everton vs Arsenal at 12.30pm.
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