Ray Parlour names two Arsenal players he thinks Mikel Arteta would pick ahead of Mesut Ozil

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Arsenal legend Ray Parlour believes that Gunners boss Mikel Arteta “really wants to use” players like Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson ahead of Mesut Ozil this season.

Ozil has only featured sporadically under Arteta and, after English football resumed in June, he did not play a single minute in the Premier League or FA Cup, a back injury cited as the issue.

The 31-year-old was a surprise starter in the 3-2 friendly defeat at home to Aston Villa, with a follow-up report in The Sun claiming Arteta was looking at ways to keep him involved.

However, Ozil is yet to feature in any of Arsenal’s competitive games this season and wasn’t even included in the Gunners’ Europa League squad earlier this week.

“He won’t play another game,” Parlour told talkSPORT on Friday morning.

“[Arteta] has young players in there that he really wants to use ahead of Ozil, people like Willock and Nelson. Players like that. They’re going to get a chance.

“They’ve made a big decision. They still have to pay [Ozil’s] wages, but he’s not going to be involved.”

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The appearance in the Villa friendly now looks to have been a false dawn in terms of Ozil’s first-team chances – omission from the Europa League team effectively means he’s surplus to requirements.

Willock and Nelson, 21 and 20 respectively, are both contracted to Arsenal until 2023, so it makes sense to hear that Arteta is reportedly keen on utilising talented young players who are at the Emirates Stadium beyond next summer.

However, Ozil is on a massive £350,000-a-week contract, is highly talented and still has plenty to offer Arsenal – to not make use of such a player, at all, seems like such a waste of money.