Mesut Ozil is the victim of a "snitch" in the Arsenal dressing room after reports the German was one of three players to reject a pay-cut proposal.
That is the view of Rangers legend Ally McCoist, who feels Ozil has been let down by at least one of his fellow Gunners after his supposed decision was made public.
Arsenal announced on Monday that a 12.5 per cent overall reduction in wages had been agreed across the squad and first-team staff, with a view to mitigating the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
However, rumours then spread that Ozil had refused to fall into line, with McCoist asserting that an Arsenal team-mate must have shared details of the players' private discussions.
"It tells you the quality of your team-mate Mesut Ozil is dealing with, because he's effectively got a snitch in his dressing room," the former Scotland international told talkSPORT.
"Whatever you think of Mesut Ozil, I think it's completely out of order that a private conversation regarding a wage reduction has been made public, and it's been made public for a reason – to make him look bad.
"So taking the issue of the wage reduction to one side, straight away he's got a problem with somebody in that dressing room or somebody at that club, of that there is absolutely no doubt.
"I've read so many good things about Mesut Ozil, what he's willing to do and what he has done for charities all over the place.
"I think it says more about what's going on within the club at this moment of time… Can you imagine a story like that coming out of Liverpool or Manchester City about one of their players?
"It just wouldn't happen because they are solid as a team, solid as a unit, and I think it tells you more about Arsenal and indeed about Mesut Ozil's standing in that dressing room that somebody has tried to damage him."
Ozil's charitable work includes having pledged to pay for 1,000 children to have life-changing surgery, while he also donated food to 100,000 homeless people across Turkey and Syria.
