Over the last six-to-twelve months, Arsenal fans have become increasingly frustrated with their club record signing, Mesut Ozil. The German ace clearly has bags of talent, he’s just not using his natural gifts to any real advantage at the moment.
Yes, there have been some concerns over the players fitness (even before he picked up the long-term injury that’s currently ruling him out of action) and he’s been played out of position far too many times, but I think it’s fair to say that Ozil should have offered more.
There are extenuating circumstances for his bad form, but all these considerations fall apart when you remember that he cost Arsenal £42.4m two summers ago. Why does he so often look like a player that Arsene Wenger dragged out of a bargain bin?
Part of the problem is his physicality. The Premier League is fast and most footballers within it are tough. Ozil, on the other hand has a slight frame and he hasn’t been holding the ball up that well. Once he’s on the ball in time and space he’s proven to be effective, but English football won’t provide him with too many chances like this. He’s going to have to make them all on his own.
This brings me to The Metro‘s claim that Manchester City are seriously considering making a £32m bid for Mesut Ozil. The source even goes as far as to claim that Manuel Pellegrini has ‘personally’ asked the club to sign the gifted German, as he’s concerned that his main midfield man, Yaya Toure, will move on in the summer. It’s not exactly a like-for-like change, but there you are.
This begs the question: should Arsenal sell-up and start afresh, or should they keep plugging away and hope that Ozil comes good?
I, for one, hope that Arsene Wenger chooses the latter option. He’s made a major investment in Mesut Ozil and he needs to make sure that it proves to be an effective one. For this to happen, he needs to play down the middle and he needs to put in work to adapt to the physicality of the Premier League.
Either way, I’d argue that it’s only a matter of time before the German comes good. He’s too good not to.
What’s your take? What does the future hold for Mesut Ozil?
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Yes l believe Mesut Ozil will come good before long,l mean look at the pedigree he has behind him
surely Arsene Wenger will start playing him down the middle before long & we will start to see him flourish,becuase we cannot let anymore of our players go off to Manchester City!!!!