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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Ian Brindle

Inside Mesut Ozil's dramatic Arsenal exit as former teammate claims he 'had problems with everyone'

Nacho Monreal has lifted the lid on his time at Arsenal and has suggested that wantaway midfielder Mesut Ozil had problems with everyone at the club.

The Spanish defender has suggested that Ozil began to have issues with his teammates at Arsenal as his relationship with then-manager Arsene Wenger soured.

Much was expected of the signing from Real Madrid and though he was to be with the Gunners for three successful FA Cup campaigns, the German international's tenure at the Emirates was to end in ignominy as his contract was terminated and he was allowed to exit the club early on a free transfer.

Monreal – who is now at Real Sociedad – was speaking to FourFourTwo about his former team-mate and suggested that Ozil’s now infamous sulk following his substitution in the 2019 Europa League Final was no surprise to him.

He said: “Ozil’s problem is that he had problems with everyone. It ended badly with Wenger, he didn’t play the last few games with him, then Emery tried to bring him back and make him our leader.

“To begin with, he gave him a lot of confidence and Mesut played a lot, but the coach understood there were other teammates who were in better condition. Ozil was one of the best players in the team, one of the best paid, but they saw he wasn’t at the level required.”

Ozil’s subsequent time at Fernabahce has proved somewhat eventful as having failed to score in any of his appearances during his first season at the club, he came under very public criticism from the club's President.

Things appeared to be brighter under new manager Ismail Kartal but both Ozil and ex-Watford midfielder, Ozan Tufan were excluded indefinitely from Kartal’s squad last week for reasons that have not been made public.

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