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I'll never be influenced by Ozil's Arsenal wages, says Arteta

Mikel Arteta is adamant Mesut Ozil’s wages will never come into his mind when it comes to selecting his squad for a matchday.

Arsenal’s head coach left the playmaker, who pockets £350,000 a week and is Arsenal’s highest earner, out of the squad for the trip to Brighton on June 20.

Ozil did return for the 2-0 victory at Southampton but was an unused substitute, and was then missing completely at Sheffield United on Sunday due to a back injury.

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The German remains a doubt for Wednesday night’s home game against Norwich but even if fit he would be unlikely to start, with Arteta having publicly called on the 31-year-old to do more in training.