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Key man ruled out: Arsenal hit by fresh injury blow ahead of West Ham clash

By on August 25, 2018

According to the Sun, Arsenal have been dealt an injury blow ahead of today’s clash with West Ham after Mesut Ozil was ruled out with yet another mystery illness.

The newspaper says Ozil did not train with the rest of the first team squad on Friday after apparently calling in sick again and the playmaker isn’t expected to feature against the Hammers this afternoon.

This obviously isn’t the first time Ozil has missed a game due to a mystery ‘illness’ in recent years and this latest bout of sickness is suspicious as it comes at a time when he’s under the microscope.

Mesut has been heavily criticised in the media for his performances against Man City and Chelsea – which is nothing new – but he’s also been called out publicly by his manager.

During interviews with the press last week, Unai Emery urged Ozil to work harder for the team after hooking him after 60 minutes against Chelsea and no doubt he’s said as much on the training pitch so I wouldn’t be surprised if the two have locked horns over the subject.

Could that have led to Ozil calling in sick for the West Ham game? Maybe. But you’d like to give the player the benefit of the doubt and believe he has more character than to run away when the going gets tough.

Either way, it looks like Ozil won’t play this afternoon so Aaron Ramsey is likely to get a recall after being benched last weekend and he’ll be given a chance to stake his claim for a starting spot.

Ramsey’s place is under threat amid on-going speculation surrounding his future and Emery has urged the midfielder not to let contract negotiations distract him from his performances on the pitch.

Let’s hope Ramsey steps-up today and shows everyone why he deserves to start for Arsenal. If he does that, then the contract talks will take care of themselves.