Arsenal coach, Mikel Arteta, ha stated that Mesut Ozil will not start for the club until he is ready to when he is ready to “give his best”.

Arsenal suffered a 3-0 defeat against second-placed Manchester City on Wednesday but the German international was omitted from Arsenal’s 20-man squad.

With Arsenal set to face Brighton on Saturday for their second Premier League match back, questions, whether Arteta will leave the midfielder out again, have popped up.

“There's a lot that's happened to him in the last few weeks and I have to respect the time for every player. Sometimes they need a little bit of time,” Arteta said.

Arteta added: “I have been very open with Mesut from day one. Since I joined I thought that he was fit and he was willing and he wanted to perform at the level he can do. He has played every game with me I think.

“The moment I see that he is ready again to do that, I will treat him like anybody else. I think I have been more than fair with him and I think he has responded in many games the way I want. That’s it.”

Asked about Ozil’s reaction to being dropped, Arteta said: “He was very well with me. There were no issues at all.

“My conversations with Mesut will remain between me and him. What I can tell you is that it was a completely fine, honest and clear conversation. That's it.”

Euro Sport