Germany explain why possible Ozil return is not an option

Germany head coach Joachim Low has closed the door to a potential return for Mesut Ozil.

Ozil announced his international retirement in July, shortly after Germany’s woeful World Cup showing.

But the Arsenal midfielder kept his options open, saying that he “will no longer be playing for Germany at international level while I have this feeling of racism and disrespect”.

That led to Ozil’s former international teammates clamouring to insist there is no racism in the Germany national team set-up, thereby completing missing the player’s initial point.

Low has sought to draw a line with regards to the situation, saying that Ozil “closed the door by himself”.

“In my view, Mesut Ozil has clearly declared his retirement and closed the door by himself with that, so a comeback is not a topic,” he told Sport Bild.

“Mesut did not call me, not to this very day. I tried to reach him several times in the past two weeks, via text message, via phone. Mesut has decided to take this path. I must accept it.

“Ozil has been my player for nine years. We’ve experienced a lot together. A few lows, but more highs. We’ve won the World Cup. This will still stay forever.

“I am still of the opinion that he was one of the best players we had in Germany in the last 20, 30 years. One day, we’ll have a conversation. I would have wished for him to inform me personally, and I was disappointed at first.”