Mesut Ozil (Getty Images)
According to Fichajes (h/t Football.london), LA Galaxy have shown interest in signing Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil. The mercurial playmaker has been out of action since March and is likely to look for a way out given his contract expires this season. The American side are also in search of attacking reinforcements and have narrowed in on Ozil.
The 31-year-old midfielder started his youth career at Westfalia 04 Gelsenkirchen in 1995 before moving to Teutonia Schalke-Nord after three seasons. He also had spells at Falke Gelsenkirchen and Rot-Weiss Essen.
Finally, he settled at Schalke 04 in 2005. The following season, he was promoted to the senior side. He played 39 games for the side and then moved to Werder Bremen. It was at Werder Bremen that Ozil truly exploded onto the scene. In just over 100 appearances, he scored 16 goals and produced 54 assists.
Naturally, Real Madrid came calling in 2010. He became one of the best playmakers at Madrid with his performances in white. In 159 appearances, he scored 27 goals and provided a mind-boggling 80 assists (source – Transfermarkt).
It was a surprise when Real let him go to Arsenal in 2013. While Ozil did enjoy a good few initial years at Arsenal, his propensity to blank out in important matches drew a lot of criticism. This slowly trickled down to Ozil making fewer and fewer appearances as seasons went by.
He has made over 250 appearances for the club to date. Ozil was an important part of the German national team at his peak. In 98 games for them, he scored 23 goals and also won the FIFA World Cup in 2014.
It has actually been painful to see Ozil go from the best playmaker in the world to being excluded from the Arsenal squad. At his full powers, there was no defence Ozil could not unlock. Always capable of the spectacular and stylish, Ozil’s only sticking point was his defensive contribution.
Modern managerial tactics require every player to press the opposition, starting right from the attackers. The German was clearly not suited to that.
However, Arsenal’s royal blunder was handing him a contract worth £350,000-per-week, which made him their highest earner. Not only has it hurt them with Ozil sitting and pocketing the wages but also they were unable to find suitors given no one wanted to shoulder those mammoth weekly wages.
That, in turn, has resulted in a huge chunk of the wage bill being blocked, leaving the club unable to pursue their transfer targets. As Ozil rolls down to the final few months of his current deal, LA Galaxy’s interest might have given Arsenal an early reprieve. Getting an £18.2million annual wage packet off their books would benefit Arsenal greatly.
Their stringent finances meant that they could only get Thomas Partey to bolster their midfield. In the event that they do manage to get Ozil out in January, they can pursue their targets and it would benefit the player as well.
