Mesut Özil is on the brink of an Arsenal exit after failing to convince Unai Emery of his quality, according to former Gunners captain William Gallas.
Despite appearing to wave goodbye to the Arsenal fans during his last outing, Özil was not sold in the January transfer window.
The midfielder has fallen way down the pecking order at the Emirates and has started just 14 games under Emery.
Although he has worn the captain’s armband on multiple occasions this season, Özil has also been left out of matchday squads by the Spaniard – with questions about his fitness and physicality reportedly the issue.
The 29-year-old played well in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Cardiff City on Tuesday night, but was still replaced 15 minutes before the end by Aaron Ramsey.
With Emery seemingly having made his decision on the £350,000-a-week star, Gallas told The Sun he can understand why the former Paris Saint-Germain boss is so infuriated with the mercurial talent.
He said: “Emery has tried everything he can to try and get a reaction out of Özil but the player isn’t responding.
“It is a very difficult situation for Özil and for Arsenal.
“Everybody knows Özil’s quality but he isn’t consistent. He only plays when he wants to play.
“Özil should be doing more with the quality he has, he has to be the best player for Arsenal every game that he plays in.”
A deadline day signing from Real Madrid in 2013, Özil arrived for £42.5million and instantly hit the ground running in north London.
But a recurrent theme has emerged throughout his time at Arsenal – injuries and inconsistency have stopped him from regularly producing the sort of magic Gunners fans know he can produce.
But with Emery confirming the loan signing of Barcelona star Denis Suarez on the final day of the January window, Gallas believes the Spaniard is already preparing for the future.
Gallas added: “The fans are upset with Özil and Emery knows this.
“He made the choice to start Özil on the bench to try see if he would get a reaction from the player and it is now down to Özil to make this happen.
“If he doesn’t perform, Arsenal may consider selling him so they can use the money from the transfer and his big wages to buy a more effective player.”