Arteta to wait until end of transfer window to make Ozil decision

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will wait until the end of the January transfer window to decide if Mesut Ozil will be part of his squad.

Ozil, 32, was left off Arsenal's Premier League list in October, casting further doubt over his future with his contract expiring at season's end.

Arteta offered no guarantees of a return for Ozil, saying he would make a decision when the window closes on February 1.

"We will see what happens in the transfer window and we will answer that at the end," he told a news conference.

The 1st day of is Friday Alhamdulillah May God bless you all with good health and happiness this year! #JummaMubarak #HayirliCumalar pic.twitter.com/J5md00nFrA

— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) January 1, 2021

Sokratis Papastathopoulos was also left out of Arsenal's Premier League squad, with the defender's contract also nearing an end.

Arteta, whose side are 13th in the table ahead of Saturday's trip to West Brom, said it was up to players to decide their own futures.

"You have to respect the players' contracts. What you can do, as I said before, is try to be open with them and tell them your intentions, the role that they have in the team and why that is," he said.

"They are entitled to make a decision in their lives because they have a contract here.

"Some would like to move because they are not playing and some would like to stay. And, at the end of the day, that's something that we cannot decide."