Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has said he is unsure if Mesut Ozil will return to his squad in January.
However, speaking to the media ahead of the Gunners' trip to West Brom, he suggested the club will not look to cut short the contracts of players that are not in his plans.
Ozil and Sokratis Papastathopoulos were not registered for the first half of the Premier League season and are yet to be included in a matchday squad in any competition.
When it was suggested Arsenal could terminate the contracts of players such as Ozil and Sokratis - which expire at the end of the season - Arteta said: "You have to respect the players' contracts.
"What you can do is just try to be open with them, tell them your intentions, the role that they have in the team and why that is. They are entitled to make the decision in their lives because they have a contract here.
"Some would like to move because they are not playing and some would like to stay. That's something we cannot decide by ourselves."
Asked whether Ozil, who earns around £350,000 per week and has made it clear he wants to see out his contract at Arsenal, could make a surprise return to his squad in January, Arteta responded: "We will see what happens in the transfer window and we will assess at the end of that."
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