Ozil sends blunt message to Arteta, contradicts Arsenal boss

Premier League - Arsenal v AFC Bournemouth - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - February 27, 2019 Arsenal's Mesut Ozil celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Mesut Ozil has bluntly told Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta "I am ready" in response to being frozen out of the squad.

Ozil has yet to kick a ball since the Premier League restart, with Arsenal claiming the German is suffering with a 'sore back'.

Arteta was asked if there was any update on Ozil's condition ahead of his side's clash with Liverpool, and responded: "With Mesut the situation is still the same as it was."

But Ozil is apparently at odds with his boss over his availability, and took to social media to post an image of himself in training alongside the caption: "I am ready."

Ozil was a peripheral figure in Unai Emery's Arsenal squad, and Arteta vowed to make the German a focal point of his system when taking the reins.

Earlier this month, the Gunners boss said of the 31-year-old: "There is always a place for a player of his quality.

"Players can adapt to different systems and we can adapt systems for different players.

"Sometimes it is not just about what we want to play or how we want to play, sometimes we have to try to field the players that we have available in the right moments, in the right positions, to perform and be comfortable on the pitch to do what we require them to do."

Ozil trained with his Arsenal team-mates on Tuesday, but is unlikely to return to the Gunners set-up for the match against Liverpool.

On the champions, Arteta said: "What they've done is phenomenal. It took them some time to rebuild the club and a game model that suited the coach and then they started to recruit a specificity in every position which completely changed the club."