Arsenal hero Paul Merson says Mesut Ozil should be playing again.

Ozil has been linked with a loan move in January, with Arsenal reportedly prepared to pay some of the 30-year-old's mammoth £350-a-week wages in order to offload him.

"He's a luxury player, and the manager has obviously decided he can't carry a player like that in a team that's already one of the worst around without the ball," former midfielder Merson wrote in his column for the Daily Star.

"With these games coming up, Arsenal are going to have 70% of the possession. He thrives in those situations.

"Unai Emery should bring him in from the cold. But he won't.

"If he plays Ozil and they win, he has to keep playing him, and the manager doesn't want that. The manager wants him out.

"And if that's the plan then they are going to have to swallow a pill and get rid of him in January come what may."