Update: The New York Times published a very similar breakdown the day following this post.

An information vacuum left by Arsenal Football Club gets filled by everyone on Twitter.

Earlier this week, out-of-favor Turkish-German midfielder Mesut Özil tweeted another chapter of his long-burning PR soap opera with his employers at Arsenal Football Club.

After seven years with the team, and with a year to go on a hefty £350,000 per week contract, the once-renowned creative mastermind was ultimately cut from the roster to make room for league-required “homegrown players.”

The tweet, in part:

“I’m really deeply disappointed by the fact that I have not been registered for the Premier League season for the time being. Upon signing my new contract in 2018, I pledged my loyalty and allegiance to the club that I love, Arsenal, and it saddens me that this has not been reciprocated. As I have just found out, loyalty is hard to come by nowadays.”

It was a passive-aggressive statement that continues a dizzying saga that has seen the player:

outed for refusing to take a pay-cut amidst coronavirus (an unprecedented request from the club);
publicly counter his employers by offering to pay the salary of Gunnersaurus, the team’s recently-fired dinosaur mascot (an amazing PR blunder in itself);
throw a tantrum and refuse to jog off the field when subbed mid-game;
fall victim to an attempted carjacking; and
more, all while seeing his playing time gradually diminish across the assessment of three different managers.

But the conspiracy theory that most flooded the mentions of Arsenal’s social accounts, however, concerned China.

In December 2019, Özil, a devout Muslim, used his considerable social platform to call out China’s mass targeting and detention of over a million Uighurs, a largely Muslim Turkic minority in northwestern China. With unreasonable ire, Chinese authorities successfully manufactured a controversy, and the club, disappointingly, completely balked.

“The content posted was entirely Özil’s personal view,” Arsenal said in a statement on the Chinese social media platform, Weibo. “As a football club, Arsenal always adheres to the principle of keeping out of politics.”

Fast-forward 10 months, and Mesut Özil, wrench firmly in hand, ended his statement:

“No matter what, I will keep fighting for my chance and not let my 8th season at Arsenal end like this. I can promise you that this hard decision won't change anything in my mindset — I will continue to train as best as I can and wherever possible use my voice against inhumanity and for justice.”

Yikes.

For their part, Arsenal controlled the Özil-getting-cut story the best way they could — they leaned on well-respected and well-liked head manager, Mikel Arteta. In a pre-game press conference, Arteta gave decidedly on-the-field reassurances for Özil’s fate, and addressed the player’s statement directly.

“Everybody is free to express their feelings. What can I say from my side? It's just a football decision that my conscience is very calm about because I was very fair with him. My level of communication with him has been really high, we know what to expect from each other. When I believe that he could contribute to the team to be better, which is why I was hired to this football club — to become the manager, to win football matches, competitions and create and build a project for the short, medium and long-term.
He has had the opportunity like everybody else. I'm sad that I had to leave three players off this list, which is never pleasant, but I just have to say that I tried to look everybody in the eye and be comfortable with it. With Mesut, I had this feeling because I have been very straightforward since I arrived at this club.”

Arteta carries the water well, but as manager, he is only a credible spokesperson to a point. The China issue is notably omitted from his comments, but it wouldn’t be his responsibility to make that statement. That needs to come from the executive level — and convincingly.

Former star striker and club ambassador Ian Wright tweeted of the episode:

Football will never stop surprising me. The fact that whatever has gone on couldn't be resolved between the club & Mesut is sad. Sad for everyone involved and I can only send him strength for what will be a difficult few months knowing he won't even have a chance to play. Gutted.

This is to say, fans, and even those close to the club, believe something unsaid to be going on. And in the absence of an explanation from the club, they’re risking their reputation and credibility. As I mentioned in August, Arsenal are struggling to hold themselves to their famous standard they call “the Arsenal Way.”

A few days later, as if to dig the China hole deeper, the club made a statement of solidarity with Nigerian fans, threatened by a spiraling national situation in the wake of police violence. While no one faulted them for taking such a step, many were quick to point out the irony given their continued silence on the Özil-China issue.

To many fans, the club don’t have the credibility to make such a statement, particularly a toothless one, because they’ve already ceded ground on similar issues of government violence.

By abdicating on the issue in December, it’s come home to roost less than a year later, and the wedge between the club’s promoted identity and reality is only growing larger.

Kyle Bagin is a strategic communications professional, with roughly ten years’ experience building successful communications campaigns by using research and insights to see the bigger picture, solve problems and change behavior.

Currently the associate director of digital media at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and a recent graduate of Georgetown University's public relations & corporate communications master’s program, he can be reached through the Contact page.