Arsenal News: Mesut Ozil Future Still Up In The Air, Arteta Mum On Plans

Mesut Ozil is a player critics feel Mikel Arteta could use right now with the Gunners midfielder woes continuing. The German was not around once more, reportedly out with a "mysterious" back injury. Arsenal bowed to Tottenham, 2-1, dropping them to ninth place in the Premier League Table.

Ozil has yet to play a minute of action since the football restart. Such has led to speculation on his future with Arsenal, some suggesting that the German could be on his way out. Aware that the media wanted to know the real score on the 31-year-old, Arteta responded as shortly as he could. He said that Ozil's status is still in the same position as last week or two weeks ago. He also added that everything will be managed internally before ending any questions related to Ozil, Football 365 reported.

For some, Ozil could have helped in the defensive side of things for Gunners against Hotspur. But as far as Arteta is concerned, these are questions that arise when a team losses badly. Conceding two goals is likely to raise questions on why some players are not playing. It all hardly comes as a surprise for the 38-year-old coach. However, it does raise some questions since that loss put a significant dent to the Gunners' campaign.

“Sometimes it’s the position, sometimes it’s the momentum of the players, when we don’t concede in three or four games in a row everything is really positive,” Arteta said.

Last month, Arteta was questioned on his decision to bench Ozil when Arsenal faced (and lost) to Manchester City. Critics felt that the German could have helped but the Spanish coach felt that Ozil was not sharp enough and wanted him to work on his game. Despite that, Arteta still considers Ozil as a vital part of the Gunners.

However, questions are up in the air this summer. Ozil earns a hefty $420,000 a week paycheck and there is a growing belief that the German could be dealt away. The only problem there is that no club has expressed any interest in the 31-year-old midfielder and most feel it is because of his wage rate. Ozil has a year left in his current deal but finances could force the Gunners to consider options. One of those is to offer Ozil on loan to other teams and covering part of his salary.