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This week, Premier League teams finished their 25-man squads for the season, and it was Mesut Ozil who dominated the headlines as he was sensationally excluded from Arsenal’s roster.
The £ 350,000-a-week World Cup winner is likely to have played his last game for the club as he faces kicking heels between now and January.
But the former Germany international is not the only big name to be roaming the Premier League training grounds in the coming months. Sportsmail takes you through the ‘Bomb Squad’ XI …
Formation: 3-1-4-1-1
Sergio Romero (Manchester United)
Argentina’s number one has long been considered the best substitute goalkeeper in the Premier League. Now Sergio Romero has been relegated to the fourth option at Manchester United.
Dean Henderson’s return from his two years on loan at Sheffield United had already pushed Romero up the pecking order. Even Lee Grant, 37, is ahead of him now, by virtue of his qualification for the local quota.
Romero can be considered unfortunate, having barely made a misstep during his 61 Old Trafford appearances since arriving from Sampdoria in 2015, and in recent years he has seemed a more confident pair of hands than David de Gea.
At 33 he still has life left. He has entered the final year of his contract and has wanted to leave since he was eliminated in the Europa League semi-final defeat to Sevilla on 16 August. Everton were reportedly interested towards the end of the transfer period.
Sergio Romero is now the fourth goalkeeper at Manchester United
Phil Jones (Manchester United)
The second high-profile name excluded from Manchester United’s Premier League team roster was Phil Jones.
It’s been a long, slow fall from grace for Jones. Destined as a future club legend by Sir Alex Ferguson, he has become the butt of jokes and is now an outcast at Old Trafford.
Their last appearance was in January, in an FA Cup fourth round victory in Tranmere. It has been nine years since the brightest talent of his generation traded Blackburn for Manchester United, and while his longevity is to be applauded, no one saw him fade like this.
Solskjaer said he has been injured since June and that the 28-year-old is still under contract until 2023, but even Axel Tuanzebe and Tim Fosu-Mensah made the United youth squad ahead of Jones.
Phil Jones has also been removed from Manchester United’s Premier League team roster
Socrates (Arsenal)
Two years after his arrival as one of Unai Emery’s first signings at Arsenal, Sokratis has found himself exiled by the new Mikel Arteta.
The Greek central defender has appeared only twice since the coronavirus first hit him in March, and has now found himself banned from both the Premier League and the Europa League.
Arteta is moving Arsenal in a new direction and the Gunners are well equipped in central defense now. Even when he favors a back three, there is no way to beat Gabriel, Rob Holding, David Luiz, Shkodran Mustafi or Pablo Mari.
Sokratis have lost at Arsenal due to fierce competition for places in central defense
Danny Rose (Tottenham)
Rose has fallen dramatically out of sight at Tottenham since the arrival of José Mourinho 11 months ago.
He spent the second half of last season on loan at Newcastle and was determined to find a new club this summer after being stripped of the number 3 jersey. With just one year left on his contract, there seems to be no going back at Spurs. .
His fall with Mourinho was one of the highlights of the recent documentary All or Nothing Amazon.
The Amazon team filmed a heated fight between Rose and Mourinho after he was removed from the team, with the defender leaving his office while complaining about a lack of playing time.
The consequences of Danny Rose with José Mourinho continued after he was lost in the 25-man team
Mo Besic (Everton)
Unbelievably, Mo Besic is still an Everton player six years after he joined from Ferencvaros. Back then, Roberto Martinez had just led the Toffees to an impressive fifth place.
The Bosnia and Herzegovina international is in his fifth coach now at Goodison Park in Carlo Ancelotti and made the last of his 56 appearances in December 2017.
Last year he made 13 appearances for Sheffield United, but failed to get a permanent move. Having signed a five-year contract with Everton in 2016, the 28-year-old now has less than a year on his contract before he can find a new club. The Rangers had been linked, but were unable to complete a deal.
Mo Besic hasn’t played for Everton in almost three years, but remains at Goodison Park
Yannick Bolasie (Everton)
Besic is not alone in the Everton fight. Ronald Koeman parted ways with £ 25 million to bring in Yannick Bolasie from Crystal Palace in 2016.
The DRC winger has only played 32 games in the four seasons since then, and has been on loan at Aston Villa, Anderlecht and Sporting Lisbon in the last three.
He was about to join Middlesbrough on loan on this month’s deadline, but a deal could not be reached, with Neil Warnock blaming the 31-year-old, who had claimed he was ‘willing to give up a lot’ to make the change.
“ He was disappointed, but he was also partly to blame. There were things he should have known before four in the afternoon on Friday about his problems at Everton, “Warnock said.
‘They were problems that we couldn’t overcome. Well, we tried and finally did, but it was too late.
Yannick Bolasie almost ended his nightmare at Everton, but a move to Middlesbrough fell through
Henri Lansbury (Aston Villa)
Villa was back in the Championship and pushing for promotion when they signed Lansbury from Nottingham Forest in 2017.
He made 30 appearances in his first two years, but has fallen into the pecking order under Dean Smith.
The midfielder made 10 Premier League appearances last season, but it wasn’t enough to assure him he’d be on the 25-man roster this time around. Despite three Carabao Cup appearances that he already has under his belt, he faces an uncertain future.
Henri Lansbury didn’t do enough in three Carabao Cup appearances to deserve a spot on the team
Jean Michael Seri (Fulham)
It looked like Fulham had landed a transfer hit when they bought Nice’s Jean Michael Seri for £ 18 million on their last promotion to the Premier League in 2018.
A host of top European clubs had taken an interest in the Ivory Coast international so it was certainly a surprise to see him at Craven Cottage. But the move was a disaster.
Fulham went through three different coaches as they plunged straight into the Championship. Seri spent last season on loan in Turkey and remains at the club without being able to find a new team.
Jean Michael Seri has fallen out of sight after his £ 18 million move to Fulham from Nice in 2018
Christian Atsu (Newcastle)
Christian Atsu has apparently been around forever and yet he’s only 28 years old. The Ghana winger was on loan at Everton and Bournemouth before moving permanently to Newcastle in 2017.
Atsu has always been involved with Rafa Benitez and Steve Bruce, but is now in disgrace at St James’ Park.
He has one year left on his four-year contract, but is now behind Allan Saint-Maximin, Ryan Fraser and Miguel Almiron in the pecking order.
Christian Atsu has found himself in disgrace with manager Steve Bruce in Newcastle
Mesut Ozil (Arsenal)
What else can be said about Mesut Ozil? Unused by Mikel Arteta since March, the German faces a rough and bitter last year at Arsenal on the sidelines.
He has been frozen and reacted to his recent omission with a statement criticizing the club for lack of loyalty.
Although he believes that his exclusion may be due to commercial interests, adding that he will continue to use his global profile to fight inhumanity in his statement, Mikel Arteta insists that it is otherwise.
“Everyone is free to express their feelings,” Arteta said.
‘That’s just a soccer decision that my conscience is really clear. I’ve been very fair with him, my level of communication with him has been very high. ‘
Mesut Ozil makes £ 350,000 a week at Arsenal, but will not receive a game between now and January
Connor Wickham (Crystal Palace)
Wickham signed a one-year extension to his contract with Crystal Palace in May 2019, keeping him at Selhurst Park until 2021, and now he may wish he hadn’t bothered.
The injury has reduced his impact in South London, limiting him to just 50 appearances for the club in five years. There were hopes for a better future for him with a six-month stint at Sheffield Wednesday last season, and while he was able to stay until the restart in the summer, he has now returned to Palace.
He is behind Jordan Ayew, Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke in forward options, and even lowered to signing Michy Batshuayi.
Crystal Palace forward Connor Wickham has had injury problems in recent seasons
HOW THEY ARE ALIGNED
