Mikel Arteta vowed to build his team around Mesut Ozil when he took over from Unai Emery at Arsenal in December 2019. In his first press conference as Gunners boss, Arteta discussed his bold plans for Ozil, and it spoke volumes that the World Cup winner was the only Arsenal player he name-dropped in the interview. "[Ozil's] a massive player for this football club," said Arteta in 2019. "As I said before, what I want is to understand how they are feeling and what they need.
It's not so much about what I need. You have to understand them. "Sometimes with conversation, you get to understand a point.
When you understand them, I can take the excuses out of them and focus on the things that are relevant and have an impact on the team on and off
Read more on mirror.co.uk