Mesut Ozil Set to Miss FA Cup Final After Travelling to Turkey

Mesut Ozil will not feature for Arsenal in the FA Cup final, amid reports that he travelled to Turkey several days ago.


The 31-year-old has been iced out by Mikel Arteta recently and has not featured for the Gunners since making a cameo appearance in their 2-0 win over Southampton in June. This latest spell on the sidelines is apparently due to a back injury, though there has been speculation that Mikel Arteta views the attacking midfielder as a negative influence on the squad.


Ozil spent the majority of the season confined to the bench

This run of absences will not be brought to an end on Saturday with Ozil set to miss out on Arsenal's squad altogether. According to journalist Chris Wheatley, the playmaker has spent the last few days in Turkey as speculation over his Gunners future continues.


Fenerbahce were linked with a move for the former Real Madrid man and back in June it was reported that he would only consider a move to a Turkish Super Lig or MLS side.


Despite this, his agent recently insisted that his client was 90% certain to see out the remaining year on his lucrative contract. Taking home £350,000-a-week, Ozil is the club's top earner by some distance and Arsenal are keen to get him off the wage bill - particularly after they missed out on European football this season.


The German is not the only member of Arteta's squad with an uncertain future. Midfielder Matteo Guendouzi will also not feature at Wembley and will likely be sold in the summer. The Frenchman has been training alone ever since he was involved in a fiery exchange with Brighton's Neal Maupay after a 2-1 defeat on 20 June.


Guendouzi is attracting interest from several Ligue 1 clubs - most notably Lyon - while there has also been talk of him being used as makeweight in a deal to bring Thomas Partey to north London in the past.




Source : 90min