Television personality and Arsenal supporter Piers Morgan has accused Mesut Ozil of being the Gunners' equivalent of Paul Pogba in an extraordinary rant on social media.
Morgan and Ozil have regularly clashed on Twitter over the years, with their last exchange occurring shortly after the German international was axed from Arsenal's Premier League and Europa League squads.
The 32-year-old's exclusion has seen him fail to play a single minute for Mikel Arteta's Arsenal so far in the last season of his contract at the Emirates Stadium.
Despite his exile from the first team, many Arsenal fans still support Ozil, who joined the North London club in 2013 and helped them win three FA Cup titles.
The German international used his Twitter account to thank the Arsenal fans who have backed him during his tough period, posting a picture of himself playing at the Emirates Stadium with the crowd in the background.
"The feeling of having fans behind you... #grateful #bestfans #hardtimes," Ozil posted.
However, the tweet drew an angry response from Morgan, who accused Ozil of being Arsenal's equivalent of Pogba, with the TV personality insisting the playmaker was seflish and not supported by the club's true fans.
"Real Arsenal fans aren’t behind you. You’re our Paul Pogba - massively overpaid, massively under-performing, & shockingly overinflated sense of your own importance. #truth." Morgan tweeted.
Real Arsenal fans aren’t behind you. You’re our Paul Pogba - massively overpaid, massively under-performing, & shockingly overinflated sense of your own importance. #truth https://t.co/4wVP6ksU1Q
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) December 7, 2020
Ozil promptly responded, calling Morgan "bitter".
Piers, buddy, are you still bitter from the other day?😂It seems like you're not a big fan of World Champions 🇩🇪🇫🇷🏆 I wish you would see as good as you hear things ☎️👂 https://t.co/oIka73MdfK
— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) December 7, 2020Morgan first started his war of words with Ozil back in April, when he accused the former Real Madrid star of being selfish when the Covid-19 pandemic was threatening jobs at Arsenal.
"People like Mesut Ozil who have just said: ‘Sorry, no. I may be one of the highest-paid players at Arsenal, one of the highest-paid in the world, I might be worth gazillions and sitting on my backside at the moment doing nothing, but no I’m not going to take a pay cut," Morgan on his Good Morning Britain show.
Morgan and Ozil also exchanged several tweets last month with the broadcaster reiterating his plea for the midfielder to leave Arsenal during a heated back-and-forth.
Ahead of Arsenal’s meeting with Leeds United at Elland Road on that weekend, Ozil wrote on Twitter: “Let's goooooo.”
The tweet prompted a response from Gunners fan Morgan, who said: "I wish you would, Mesut. For your sake and Arsenal’s."
Ozil chose to respond, and his answer could certainly raise a few eyebrows.
"Piers, was that really you, or was your phone hacked?" was Ozil’s response.
