Mesut Ozil says an offer to move to China was ‘tempting and interesting’ but ultimately not something he seriously considered because he plays football for the love of it, not for financial gain.
The Germany international revealed in his new book ‘Gunning for Greatness’ that he could have earned upwards of £100 million over the course of five years following an approach last summer but took only three minutes to reject the idea.
“Money never played a big role for me in football,” Ozil told Goal.com as he again outlined why it was an easy decision.
“I play football because I love it. Sure, you do not earn peanuts and the offer from China was tempting and interesting. But as I said: Money is not everything.
“I want to win titles and I have my goals I want to achieve. That is more important than money. That’s why I said from the beginning, that China is not an option for me.”
On the pitch, Ozil has come in for further criticism about his failure to make an impact in big games and for his downbeat body language that many have interpreted as a sign of a laissez-faire attitude.
Despite admitting this time last year that he was working on his body language, it appears that the 28-year-old has accepted he’ll always split opinions.
“Some people like me, some people don’t. Some people look at my body language and think I don’t care. But that’s me. I won’t change my body language or my style of play drastically anymore.
“Expectations on me were very high everywhere, because I am a player who can make the difference. You have to deal with that.
“There will always be criticism and there will always be praise. But what matters is what the manager tells me. I have said that numerous times. But what I can’t understand is when people say: ‘Look, he does not push anymore’ or ‘He does not run enough’. If you look at my numbers you can see I run a lot and I show a good attitude.”
In truth, there’s not much that’s new in the above. The big issue at the moment is whether he’ll be around next season to prove the haters wrong.
You suspect if another offer was to come in from China this summer it would take Ozil longer than three minutes to dismiss it and Arsenal might be far more tempted to accept it.
__
You can read the full Ozil interview with Goal.com, here.
“You suspect if another offer was to come in from China this summer it would take Ozil longer than three minutes to dismiss it and Arsenal might be far more tempted to accept it.”
Why? because he is not ambitious, because he is crap, because this is the best he can expect?
Btw, Sanchez has the same stats (assists + goals) in big games as Özil…
Alexis has plenty of running and you cannot fault his ‘desire’ but yes he loses the ball waaay too often and so many lose passes.
Whilst Ozil doesn’t show it, it doesn’t mean he is not up for it. Its just a facet of his personality. I think we can garner a lot from his competitiveness with his bullying of the door at Spurs…either that or he hates being seen as some sort of drug abuser.:D
Kante contributed a lot to the success of Chelsea this season due to his workrate and commitment on the pitch. We need more of that style of play than Ozil. There have been games where the whole world has seen Ozil as the man of the match and said it. Even in an office, if you work hard, people know and for a physical activity, people don’t see it ? Ozil should work a bit harder and we will see it, no problem.
So? I hadn’t known a playmaker’s job is to harry and harass oppositions. For a playmaker, or an attacking midfielder, to work hard is to make lots of off the ball runs to create space for the teammates or to get into open areas to hit them where it hurts most. Not fucking tackle their players. And the reason why he “doesn’t have any impact” in games is because we have a shite team. The midfield passes the ball too slowly, taking too many touches or playing the ball left to right before attempting to pick him out, thus even… Read more »
The character assassination of Mesut by the British media really is beyond the pale. Martin Keown, of all people (and look, I still love Martin–usually talks sense), claimed earlier this week that Ozil looked like he had stopped trying, that his teammates were “carrying him”, and that he did nothing in the Spurs game, vs. Alexis who started slow but apparently “grew into the match”. It’s like pundits don’t bother even watching the games closely–they’ve got a nice neat narrative in their closed minds and see what they want to see. Back in reality, Ozil was no worse in that… Read more »
I believe Ozil will stay. He genuinely does seem to want to win something big with us.
The only two managers I’d see Wenger getting replaced and getting the best out of Ozil is Simeone and Allegri.
Those two can get the best out of Ozil (Re: similar to Allegri with Dybala and Simeone with Griezmann)
Otherwise, the only other person who can get the best out of Ozil is Santi Cazorla. Hope for the sake of Wenger if he stays that Santi can stay fit.
Well Allegri may be off the cards. Wenger IMO will stay if he can secure either or both of FA cup and Top 4. He won’t want to hand a mess down the line to a new manager who will have to as is struggle with getting use to a new league. It may also give us more choice post 2018 World cup as there will be a managerial shake up then. As a natural transition, it will be the class thing to do to have an exceptional (but slightly long in the tooth) manager who has done wonders for… Read more »
I’m here because I read the headline. And all I could think was “No shit.” Özil isn’t a money grubbing ego centrist who would sell his soul for a slightly bigger house
It’s ok, he’staying at Arsenal. The BBC reported earlier in an article that he’s having his driveway at his home resurfaced. So now thats done and dusted we can move on……………
Nah, he’s just hiding Trevor Jordache’s body underneath.
“But what I can’t understand is when people say: ‘Look, he does not push anymore’ or ‘He does not run enough’. If you look at my numbers you can see I run a lot and I show a good attitude.”
Can’t argue with that bc he’s right –
Last year he had the highest, or one of the highest, ground covered in the league.
BBC Sport published the article/data here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/33757354
Highest ground covered…with or without the ball? 😀
i dont think anyone should accuse ozil of not covering distance , as it does not have any effect on the result . but there should be no doubt that he is a defensive liability . he just doesnt work hard enough defensively and doesnt press the opponent team . granted he is a creative player and a very good one but it just doesnt excuse not to work for the team if others are doing it . the stats back it up , he is last for tackles and second last for interseptions compared to other creative midfielders .… Read more »
I dont believe mesut will oscartrate a move to china despite his occassional s(h)ulking.
Well if he decides to leave and not extend his contract, for arsenal will be best to go to china as we will pay double the pace what we will ask he will get double the salary he is asking for the new contract and most importantly he will play out of PL and Europe and not at our rivals, but I really hope he stays.
If wenger extend his contract and also alexis and ozil extend, I think wenger will go all in this summer and buy really big players.
Maybe next time he gives the ball to our Wingers, how about this time they don’t try to lose it?
I know…both Ox and Alexis lost the ball countless times. Every time, it happens, we are back to square one on the back foot. Alexis’s passing has been poor of late.
And it feels sometimes, he is playing by himself instead of using the team.
“Ozil is Luxury player. BUT, when you have a diamond in a pile of shit, you don’t throw away the diamond; You clean the shit.”
– Lord Bendtner (the astronaut one), 04/05/2017
^ The above quote is copyright protected by virtue of morals. Violators will be prosecuted in Court.
^ Yes, I just realized the grammatical error in the Quote. However, it’s in quotes, and thus, I can do nothing.
Wise words.
We can start with getting rid of Debuchy, Jenko, Gibbs, Jack, Elneny.
Debuchy past sell by date. Jenko lacks technical skills. Gibbs flatters to deceive and injury prone, Jack too injury prone, Elneny mediocre player whose sideway short passing is the sort of statistic 7amkickoff likes to advertise but truthfully, he adds nothing.
Oh and Walcott. I think he still has utility if you know how to use him right but he is too predictable and thrives in space. At 28yrs with pace likely to wane (and that’s his main asset), time for an upgrade.
“when you think you have a diamond in a pile of shit but it turns out to be just cubic zirconia, keep trying to blag it that its really a diamond and sell it for far more than its worth”
I think any potential buyers are onto that scam though judging by the non-interest of any suitors for Ozil’s signature. Plenty of people sniffing round Sanchez though, i wonder why that is – I think these fuckers can tell the difference between diamond and cubic zirconia, bastards!
You read too many red tops Steve.
This. Well said, M’Lord.
There will be plenty of suitors for Alexis to say the least. It will be a test of our mettle if we should keep him and run down the contract (amortise as they would say) Not so sure who may come in for Ozil though. And that’s the rub, I on’t think we will keep two heavy weights and let them run out their contract. Thereby if Ozil should not find an option to be sold to, he will either have to sign a new contract or we will have to contemplate keeping him and selling the other one. Not… Read more »
Yeah, nobody would come for Özil… My god…
If we could sell Theo and get Mahrez, that would be tremendous business, but sadly I don’t see it happening.
Do you think we should sell Walcott because his pace is going to wane ? You should have said before now Santori.
Haters? Oh dear arseblog, oh dear.
China is not an option for anyone serious about career IMO but they are paying a lot of money and there is no doubt that it has had a Massive effect on the market compressing supply and keeping prices high. Add in the fact that 7 plus teams in Europe can pay as much or more than us – Bayern, Barca, RM, PSG, Chelsea, City, United, maybe Juve… plus if we lose our allure (further) by not making that top 4 trophy… And we have to lose one of two heavyweights Alexis or Ozil… Very tricky summer ahead. Which is… Read more »
We may already have lost our “allure” buddy.
Bayern beating us 10-2, losing to shit teams like Watford at the Emirates, being 17 points behind sp*rs,..not that alluring really
santori are you trying to look like a moron? I really doubt someone with such low intellegence could even post a comment :/
If money’s not an issue, then you shouldn’t ask for 250 k and sign the reasonable amount offered by the club. I love this guy but people are right when they say he should work on his finishing and his body language. Kicking doors won’t help instead he should show more passion on the pitch. A simple example would be Thomas Rocisky in his last two NLD
Read what he said. He has ambitions so why the fuck would be stay at a club who have no ambitions.
Oh no! Was hoping we could get most of the money we wasted on him back. Looks like Chelsea are the ones who do big deals with China. Pity as we have so much dross they could take!
Amazes me how many people look into running stats. The only stat that matters is the W and L column. For me, at the beginning of any season there are 38 potential game winning goals and 38 potential shutouts. That’s it no more no less. I don’t care if you ran .5 km or 95 km as long as you score or assist the game winning goal.
By that logic Theo has had a jolly good season.
Everyone who cares about the way Ozil (and Arsenal) play should read Tim Stillman’s most recent tactics column; really insightful.
Mesut’s useless at defending corners and generally ‘getting stuck in’. He’s crap at thumping his chest and making a display of how committed he is. What he can do better than most in world football, is producing the killer pass. Give him intelligent movement and he’ll find you. The problem’s not Ozil, it’s a combination of media bias and his team-mates, largely speaking, being inept.
It’s not really media bias is it. Every football fan world wide expects their players to challenge for headers.
That’s probably why there’s so much disappointment amongst them.
Ozil is the reason Arsenal being shit in all 13 Emirates years. Ramsey too. Thank god we have Wenger and Stan to clean their mess.
Fact is he’s a already earning millions for Arsenal football club… So sure, they can say they’re not playing for money but, that’s exactly what they are doing.