Why only Ozil can save Arsenal career and if he doesn't adapt club will have to cut losses

That is the view of Danny Higginbotham after Ozil was left out the Gunners squad which was eliminated from the League Cup on Wednesday by rivals Tottenham.

Playmaker Ozil didn’t even make the bench at the Emirates and SunSport columnist Higginbotham believes the 30-year-old could be sold in the summer if he doesn’t adapt.

He said: “Either Ozil adjusts like everybody else in the team, or you get moved on.

“When you look at the way Arsenal play and Emery’s team at Sevilla, they’re a high-pressing side.

“The question marks over Ozil are not on the ball because he’s still one of the best creative players in the Premier League – it’s off the ball.

“Emery probably doesn’t trust him off the ball. That’s what it comes down to. Arsenal are now a pressing team, and for that to be successful they all need to do the same thing at the same time.

“You don’t change your philosophy for one player. If Ozil’s style doesn’t fit the way Emery wants to play then he changes or doesn’t have a future at the club. Only Ozil can decide that.”

The former Real Madrid man has only completed five of Arsenal’s 17 league games this season under Emery, six less than at this stage last season.

Ozil was the focal point of Arsene Wenger’s team and was given a new £350,000-a-week contract in February to make him the highest-paid player at the club.

Higginbotham said: “Because of the speed of the game now, luxury players become few and far between.

“For Ozil to get back into the side he needs to show Emery more off the ball, whether he’s capable of fitting into that system and is a player who’s going to press.

“I would love to see him evolve because he’s an exceptional player and I want to see him in the Premier League.

“But the problem is if he doesn’t then Arsenal have to cut their losses because he’s on high wages.”

Having been Arsenal’s player of the season two years ago, Ozil’s situation reminds Higginbotham of how Chelsea’s star player Juan Mata was sold to Man United by Jose Mourinho in 2014.

“But then Mourinho came to United and trusted Mata,” he said. “That can happen when a new manager comes into a club. He’ll have players he likes and players that don’t fit his style.

“Ozil could go somewhere else and be the main man if he were to leave Arsenal, otherwise he needs to fall in line with the way Emery wants to play.”

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