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'I tried my best': Mikel Arteta insists he gave £350,000-a-week Arsenal outcast Mesut Ozil 'as many opportunities as I could' but claims his first-team exile is 'best for the club'

Mikel Arteta claimed he has been 'fair' on Mesut Ozil and tried to get midfielder performing again before his exile from the Arsenal first-team squad.

The German midfielder is the Gunners' highest-earner on £350,000-a-week but was left out of Arsenal's 25-man squads for the Premier League and Europa League competitions this month.

Ozil hit back at both Arteta and the club following his omission, claiming that 'loyalty is hard to come by', while his agent Dr Erkut Sogut says the Arsenal manager 'failed' himself by not getting the best out of the midfielder.