Why Arsenal must offload Mesut Ozil at the earliest

The Sun has reported that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta will not be given funds in January and might have to sell star player Mesut Ozil.

Ozil has long been a contentious figure at Arsenal, with many underwhelming performances in recent years, despite being one of the Premier League’s highest-paid players. The German seemingly failed to endear himself to head coach Unai Emery, who afforded Ozil only 20 league starts in 2018-19.

Ozil currently earns £350,000-per-week and that is a major problem for the Gunners. He takes up a huge chunk of their wage bill while the big contract also makes him difficult to move on. His departure would significantly cut Arsenal’s wage bill and could open the door to more summer transfers.

Ozil had been forced to accept a limited role under Emery in the ongoing term and featured in just one of Arsenal’s first 7 Premier League matches. The German playmaker was excluded from a number of high-profile games the last term as well.

He last scored for Arsenal in April and has found the back of the net just twice in all of 2019 as he has often struggled to get into the first team. Prior to Mikel Arteta’s arrival, interim boss Freddie Ljungberg showed some faith in Ozil but his troubles were clear when he was substituted against Manchester City in his last outing and kicked his gloves along the touchline.

Arsenal sacked Emery following Arsenal’s disastrous start to the Premier League campaign. Freddie Ljungberg was appointed as the interim boss but he too failed to make an impact and change the fortunes of the London side. Former player Mikel Arteta has now put pen-to-paper on a three and a half year contract at Emirates.

One of Mikel Arteta’s first tasks as new Arsenal manager will be to sort out the future of the rapidly declining star man. Turkish club Fenerbahce are said to be interested in the attacker, as per reports from Metro.

From his humble beginnings at Schalke 04, Ozil went to Werder Bremen, Real Madrid and then to Arsenal. He’s played in three different leagues and has made a name for himself, meaning his t-shirts will sell like hotcakes should he sign for any football club.

He is what we commonly identify as a midfield maestro. Ozil has a remarkable level of spatial awareness while being selfless and his first touch belongs in the upper echelons of football. But Ozil, who has entered his 30s, is struggling and the club are short of playmakers after the departure of Aaron Ramsey.

Selling him will create opportunities to recruit other players who will fit this new mould. A new manager means new tactics and sometimes this means changing players around. Ozil is a solid player but the only problem is getting the most out of him.

Verdict

Ozil has shown glimpses of his old form this season but has failed to replicate that on a regular basis. At 31, it would be a shrewd business if Arsenal manage to offload the attacker in January to fund new signings for Mikel Arteta.