Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Report: Arsenal and Ozil reach contract termination agreement

According to David Ornstein in The Athletic (£), Arsenal and Mesut Ozil have reached an agreement over the early termination of his contract.

It leaves the German free to secure a well reported move to Fenerbahce during the January transfer window, and will bring an end to his career in North London.

Since joining from Real Madrid in September 2013, Ozil has made 254 appearances for the club, scoring 44 goals and making 77 assists.

He was part of the team for the FA Cup final wins in 2014, 2015, and 2017 – but missed out on the 2020 final having been left out of the squad following lockdown.

It’s a sad way for his time at Arsenal to come to an end, but the best of luck to him in the next chapter of his career in the Turkish Super Lig.

Related articles

Comments

guest

382 Comments
oldest
newest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Naked Cygan

Amen.

Runcorn Gooner

Excellent. Let’s remember the good times and get on with the most important thing. Arsenal FC

Biggles

Yes, that’s fair enough – although we’ll have to think hard to remember those good times, but they were there.

Fabulous

Without trying too hard – his debut against Sunderland, our first trophy in almost 10 years, that performance against Napoli when some of us were hailing him as the next Bergkamp, that 3-0 game against Chelsea, that 2-0 win against United.

Johnny 4 Hats

I liked the bit with the chewing gum.

Heavenly Chapecoense

The list of big wins is longer for Sylvestre Eboue, Djourou, Gibbs, Almunia. Fabianski clearly won one of the FA cups for us.

Qwaliteee

Lists of big wins?

What trophies did we ever win with Eboue in the side?

How many World Cups did Fabianski win?

You delusional Ozil Haters dig your own graves, you really do.

midgunner

Those goals he scored where he bounced the ball into the ground and over the keeper

BidOnLard

That “let the bodies hit the floor” goal against ludogorets…

Qwaliteee

My favourite was that night against Leicester in October 2018 – only a couple of years ago, under Emery, of all people.

He was unplayable – just world class.
https://youtu.be/TyE3cP27VoY

Luther

Speak for yourself. You may have to think hard to remember those good times, but some of us are more knowledgeable than you are.

Heavenly Chapecoense

I am jealous of the 350k per week he got for free for a couple of years.

Fabulous

A-f*cking-men. Now let’s all take a guess on which issue will polarize the fanbase for the next few years.

Danny

Martinez vs Leno is my guess

Heavenly Chapecoense

Hope it is not going to be Arteta in vs Arteta out.

Thessaloniki

It could be Auba if he doesn’t start scoring, the issue being what gives on the wing/combinations vs. his ability to score. But remember when we’re winning no-one looks for someone to blame. So I hope we win.

Dave

Is still going to be Xhaka

Danny

I don’t think anyone likes Xhaka so there’s no debate.

Bendtner’s Ego

Xhaka actually had a very good game against Palace.

I slagged him off regularly, but I’ll give credit where it’s due.

Luther

It depends on what the media’s next agenda regarding Arsenal will be. They will try to brainwash Arsenal fans into turning on one of their own, and succeed with Gooners who happen to be less educated, whilst failing with superior Gooners. The real civil war has never been between “Wenger in” and “Wenger out”, or pro-Ozil and anti-Ozil; it’s been between the educated and uneducated – respectively – sections of our fanbase. Here’s what might happen: Bernd Leno has an amazing season, to the extent where he overtakes Neuer as Germany’s no. 1 for Euro 2021. There, he is involved… Read more »

Moxrex

You got it absolutely right and see the likes and dislikes here. People are already divided on valid comment

Moxrex

Aubameyang or Willian

Danny

I’d like to get an Ozil Fenerbahce shirt now. I wish him well. Hopefully we meet again soon in Europe. Thanks for everything Mesut.

Johnny 4 Hats

Don’t tempt fate. I saw someone waking round the emirates with a 9 Higuian shirt once…

El Mintero

Thanks for everything?! Thanks for fuck all more like. This comes 4 years too late. Blood sucking leach will never be forgotten for the way he took our club to the cleaners. Good fucking riddance.

Johnny 4 Hats

Yeah man. With his transfer fee and then his wages, we could’ve bought two Mustafi’s, two Xhaka’s and a Pepe.

Such a leach. Stealing all our precious money.

Winterburns right wand

You’ve put in context there Johnny.

We’d be pushing for the title if we had signed those guys.

Reality check

Take Sanchez out and the list of attackers he played with were no better than mid table. Walcott, Welbeck, Giroud, Joel frikn Campbell. It was Giroud’s customary drought in the second half of the season that handed the title to Leicester. Like Auba now, we missed Sanchez’s goals and Theo’s contract renewal was still far away.

El Mintero

What an absolutely ridiculous comment! Good luck supporting fenerbahce.

Johnny 4 Hats

Awesome! Champions League football!

Come on you purple and yellows!

Georgeycharles

Very witty, but there is a valid point here that following the debacle around the Sanchez departure, Arsenal had got themselves into a position where it would have been hugely damaging to have lost Ozil as well (or so it seemed at the time). This placed all the cards with the Ozil camp and they extorted full advantage from that (after first taking time to check there wasn’t a better offer elsewhere). Having played those cards so well and absorbing such a large proportion of the club’s ongoing resources, the least we should expect is that Ozil should perform at… Read more »

Fred Garvin

Yes, our poor, helpless defenseless club. Christ’s sake, some of you fans …

Johnny 4 Hats

Funny how we never think of Park Chu-Young, Lucas Perez or William Saliba where we catastrophically disrupted their careers with our appalling man management.

ClockEndRider

Hang on, it’s not as if either of the first two arrived as world class talents is it? And could the fact that neither of them has done anything subsequently be down to anything as mundane as their talent level?

Ad-O

What winds me up about Ozil is his refusal to take any responsibility for his own part in his downfall. Even back to his Germany days, the guy was in a photo with Erdogan. A man who has made a career out of baiting German politicians, people , and the German nation. His attitude has only got worse since then.
So no, I won’t be sad to see him go. His good times were over rated and his bad times saw him dropped by 3 successive managers. He can’t get out of my sight too soon.

DaDude

Amen. He sides with people who attacked “his” nation. That’s basically like Lineker posing with Saddam Hussein before the Italia 90 World Cup.

soreeyes

thank fuck for that

Johnny 4 Hats

Yeah but this team needs creativity and Özil’s stats on key passes are second to none. Plus we need to utilise the money he’s on to positive effect. And he’s got loads of Instagram followers which is great for the profile of the club.

*Walks away with a wry smirk*

One last dance….?

Biggles

I’m not sure how/if we’ll utilise the money saved from his massive contract in future years given that it’s clear we need to cut the massive wage bill (massive not least because of Wenger-era contracts like his) rather than cut the bill now and in the summer when other contracts come to an end, only to increase it again to clearly unsustainable levels for the club in its current position? And what about the £120 million loan that we’ve just entered into to plug at least part of the hole in the finances? That will need to be repaid of… Read more »

Johnny 4 Hats

The money saved should be split between bumper contracts for Martinelli, Balogun, ESR, Saka and Tierney which tie them to the club for 99 years. In all seriousness though, judging from reports Balogun is on his way out. Why not offer him 50k a week? It works out at £2.5m a season and £10m over a four year deal. That is surely worth the risk. I know, I know, other players will demand it. But they can fuck off. This is a unique situation and needs affirmative action. We’ve sculpted this young lad into a predator and now he’s buggering… Read more »

Artetas Assistant

The next RL9

Johnny 4 Hats

Yeah. Rickie Lambert is massively underrated.

Twatsloch

Have we not paid him off with a percentage of his future earnings in order for him to agree to go? If so we can’t be saving much.

Johnny 4 Hats

In the immortal words of Kieran Tierney – Every little helps

Vonnie

We’ve already spent it on Auba and Willian, and paying Partey a huge salary that he hasn’t yet earned, we never fucking learn.

marinkos

Marge I’m confused. Is this a happy ending or a sad ending?
It’s an ending, that’s enough.

Qwaliteee

Well said.

viegunner

downvothe this intp oblivion, i have never been happier to see a player leave arsenal. i really hope we can move on and the ozil fan boys (i don’t mean people defending/liking him) piss off. god i’m sick of them, taking his tweets at face value. “stan” people really are the worst

A P

Spoken like a true dumb fuck.

Fabulous

“Stan people are the worst” – then proceeds to take the opposite extreme.

Well done you tool.

Johnny 4 Hats

This is starting to feel like a YouTube comments section.

Vivooty

Arsenal fan base is steadily depleting and with Ozil exit,who was the most followed Arsenal player by a mile,the fanbase will deplete sharply….We need to find another great player who will improve Arsenal fan following…

Feather Boa Morte

If we win games, playing good football we will gain fans. We don’t need another primadonna with a slick social media team. Give me a squad of Tierneys, Sakas and Martinellis and the fans will follow. If that’s what you are into. Generally I’m happy if proper supporters support Arsenal and we win stuff – doesn’t matter how many of them there are.

Vivooty

Saka will certainly become a world class player.But I suspect that he will not be with us for long.Same applies to our other young talented players.Once the big teams comes,they will most probably go because Arsenal is not what it used to be….

Moxrex

I agree, we need to build a team with more home grown players to have connections with the fans who fill the stadium. Then add a few world class talents to help up the level in certain positions. The future looks good but it is not going to be a short term solution it may take 4 to 5 years before we may be reckoned as a top-4 team.

Moxrex

Also shedding some internet fans nowadays won’t be a bad thing for the club since generally they don’t help keeping the positive atmosphere rather are just jumping from one bandwagon to another depending on how people like Pearce Morgan push them

ClockEndRider

“Once Charlie Buchan/ Ted Drake/ Joe Baker/ Charlie George/ Liam Brady leaves , the fan base will deplete sharply….”.
I think you’ll find Arsenal is a football club which doesn’t rely on the latest “star” player to provide its support.
God, I’ll be glad when the kids go back to school…..,

DaDude

If we want fanbase from random people on instagram, I guess we should sign Justin Bieber and let him sit at home like Özil. I personally want to win football games, so maybe we should sign people who can contribute to that.

Public Elneny

To me it feels like a lesser version of when Arsene’s exit was confirmed

It absolutely had to happen, ideally a couple of years before it actually did, so in that way it’s a relief and potentially a reason to be happy and optimistic

But given what I once thought of them, also pretty sad it went sooo wrong

Jac

You haven’t realised that Arsene was keeping the club afloat yet? Imagine the perennial top 4 finishes now.

Public Elneny

I don’t really want to have this discussion But if you want to see the biggest reason we fell off a cliff edge after he left, look at the squad he left behind at the end of the 2017/18 season. Pay attention to the ages and contract situations of our best players at the time Arsene had got us into that position because he lost his judgement on squad building. And because of that loss of judgement he wouldn’t have been able to recover the situation Just because his successors have also made serious errors of judgement, doesn’t change that… Read more »

A Different George

Yeah, you don’t want to have this discussion but, nonetheless, you insist on having it. My alternative take: we never had as good a squad as it looked from Highbury on. We were top four and through the Champions League group stage every year on smoke and mirrors, in large part manipulated pretty brilliantly by Wenger.

But I don’t want to talk about it.

Public Elneny

Ha, fair enough. I typed that bit 1st, realised I did want to have the conversation, and then pressed post before I remembered to remove it This might not be the right article, but I’m happy to continue the discussion if you are I just think that is an extremely surface level view of the situation. It ignores that a club’s success in the present day is a culmination of decisions made in the 5-10 seasons preceding it (although each past season becomes slightly less influential as time passes). I also don’t think that excuses some of the decisions made… Read more »

A Different George

First, I appreciate your tone and acknowledgment about the post. No problem. What I was trying to say is this: yes, the decisions of the last 5-10 years affect where we are. (Please don’t take every statement that follows as absolutely true; there are exceptions–a particular player, a particular year, a particular match.) The financial constraints of the new stadium meant Wenger needed to keep us in the Champions League, and could never afford to sacrifice a season or two (or three) and rebuild. He managed to attract a few great players (Alexis, Ozil) in part because of his personal… Read more »

Luther

I couldn’t have put it better than that, and I won’t even try. However, I fear your eloquent explanation will go right over the head of your average W.O.B.

Vonnie

Wenger paid top money for Xhaka and Mustafi, stop making silly excuses for a man who’d totally lost it. Wenger should have gone five years earlier, he was hugely responsible for the mess we’re in now, he laid the solid foundations for it.

A Different George

You have a right to you opinion, which may be better than mine. But when you “reply” to what I said, it would be nice if you actually responded to my argument and didn’t just repeat what you would have said anyway.

Sachin

We still miss Wenger. We won’t miss the likes of you when you go Vonnie. You don’t even get a banner on a plane. No one will give a fuck.

asda

It’s been so many years and people still haven’t realized how ridiculous it was to expect those teams to have even play-offs with barcelona and bayern at their prime?

fmikael

Well put bro…

Heavenly Chapecoensev

Arsene left Auba, Lacazette, Kos, Holding, AMN, Bellerin etc. After he left, we signed Willian, Luis and gave them big money. Arteta renewed Holding and said Mustafi is not going anywhere. It looks like Arteta is taking good care of his inheritance.

Luther

Arsene would never have signed Luiz and Willian – especially on those terms. He would have employed Ozil properly, instead of constantly substituting and dropping him. He would never have thrown away a top four (top three really) spot in 18/19 by dropping five point at home to Palace and Brighton in the run-in (remember how we used to regularly clinch top four with a strong finish to the season?). Arsene would never have gone out of the Europa League to Olympiacos, especially after winning the away leg first. And we would not have been a mid-table side under Arsene.… Read more »

Sachin

Without getting into what Wenger would have done or not, it’s for the good that he is no longer associated with the club’s current avatar. Wenger didn’t deserve these fucking prats belittling him and still seething with resentment. Many of us are too simplistic and mean to even begin to comprehend (let alone appreciate) what Arsene was for this club. Worst thing that happened under Wenger’s watch towards the end was the erosion of the class we had as a club. Guess it was all fine being classy when we had trophies. Without trophies half of our support base is… Read more »

czerwonadupa

I’ll drink to that but not with a 39 Steps coffee

TH14

I have some great memories of Ozil, particularly his link up with Alexis Sanchez, but I’m so glad that this whole saga is soon to be behind us

Johnny 4 Hats

I should see Thierry Henry 14 every time I read your name.

But I weirdly always see Theo 14. And that makes me sad.

TOGooner

My greatest memory of Ozil is when he signed for us. I don’t think you can say that for too many other players, I don’t think you can say that for any player post Invincibles, but you may, for a very long time, remember where you were when Mesut Ozil signed for Arsenal. have never had more hope and anticipation for Arsenal than in that moment.

Johnny 4 Hats

I agree. Ozil, and less so Sanchez, were two signings that seemed genuinely ambitious and exciting. I don’t know why we stopped there though. A world class CDM and CB and we might have created a really special team.

Instead we signed Xhaka and Mustafi and the slow decline began…

czerwonadupa

Why do you think Real let Wenger sign Ozil but kept Modric.? At 32 Ozil’s form has fallen of a cliff while the 35 year old Modric is still performing for Real

Sachin

I wish you had said this to Wenger back then. Anyways, we chose Eduardo and let Modric go because we could afford only one and had good midfield talent but needed a finisher. Your hindsight is precious please retain it and share your pearls with the world.

Sachin

I remember that day too ToGooner! I haven’t had that warm glow in my heart about an Arsenal transfer ever. Even Rosicky and Cazorla (whom I loved to bits) seemed natural buys. Ozil seemed like a lottery or gift from the gods. Many other players did more (Sanchez, Monreal, Giroud) – and many will do more (Tierney! Partey, Martinelli, even ESR) – but Ozil came to us as a certified Galactico. I can’t wait for us to be a big enough club to get prime superstars again. Hopefully it’ll go better for us next time around.

Der32

I’m so glad you have 0 downvotes for this. The sad truth is that we would’ve won the league had we been more ambitious with transfers back when we had Ozil and Sanchez.

Leftie

Goodbye, Mesut. Thanks for everything and good luck.

Ozzie

Sad to see him go.
Potential never fulfilled at this club, but it was never going to be under Arteta, so this is the best logical outcome for all parties.

El Mintero

Lol. Yeah thanks for stealing 350k/wk for absolutely zero return. Thanks for all the wee sniffles in training ruling you out of any game north of the watford gap. Thanks for your refusal to move somewhere else 3 years ago and instead happily sit in the reserves and take the money. Thanks for zero effort when you did actually get a start meaning we played with 10 men when you were in the team. Thanks for your social media and PR team trolling Arsenal for the last 4 years to make sure poor little mesut always the victim. Thanks for… Read more »

TommyGun

Spot on El Mintero.

Sachin

That 350k was a bitch on your daddy’s inheritance. Sorry your lols will be only spent on your brand of political mishaps.

Leftie

Don’t forget that toxicity and bitterness are choices. Enjoy yours. I choose to be grateful for 44 goals, 77 assists and countless moments of great football from the man.

Ozzie

Well said Leftie!

Chipper49

Well that saga is finally over.

Runzac

Thanks for everything Mesut – good luck

DB10

Sad end – thank you for some great moments Mesut.
More worryingly, who’s going to pay Gunnersaurus now?

Duno

I’m sure a fraction of his freed up wages more than covers it. 😉
More poignantly though, glad this saga is over even if a bit sad. Good luck to Mesut, you actually did bring something to us when we needed you.

Pea14

Now that we dun need to pay of Ozil wages, we can pay for Gunnersaurus now

Up4GrabsNow!

Word on the street is that it is a package deal. Our green friend is about to become… (drum roll please) FenerSaurus

Artetas Assistant

That’s so sad in reality but I really liked it

Johnny 4 Hats

I should see Dennis Bergkamp 10 every time I read your name. 

But I weirdly always see David Bellion 10. And that makes me sad.

Damo

I see Johnny Fart Pants when I see your name

Jimbo

Finally we can move on to improving the squad and bring the club and fans emotions to a better, happier and more successful place.
Dead wood being removed slowly but surely. Come on you Gunners!

Rosli Jaafar

Dont blame Mesut alone…how about Willian that we bought from Chelsea…
Edu please answer into this episode.
Waste of ££££, never performed at all when given a chance to start or subs.
Further into that please rate the performance of Nicholas Pepe that we bought for too high price.

Do, we consider this also DEAD WOOD?
The GUNNERS since 1972.

Damo

Maybe ..just maybe..Willian might turn a corner. Keep the faith..if it was purely down to pace then we are in trouble..but its not so perhaps he will regain confidence and prove a few people wrong. Best to stop booing our own players..that’s hardly likely to help

Qwaliteee

Without Ozil, we have already made our worst league start for 40 years – and we’ve still got that muppet from Chelsea for two and half seasons more on £250k a week.

Better, happier and more successful my arse.

Majan

Dead wood?! Are you freaking serious? He could have been of much added value to this team if he wouldn’t have been punished for his comments on Instagram, in which he (rightfully) spoke out strongly against China’s persecution of the Uighur population. Instead of supporting Mesut, Arsenal distanced themselves of him because they didn’t want to get politically involved and decided he wouldn’t play anymore for Arsenal. A few months later they supported a Marxist movement, called BLM. It’s a shame how Arsenal acted and one of the reasons many people don’t support Arsenal anymore. Calling him dead wood is… Read more »

paulo

No.

Majan

It’s all about the money. Yes.

Heavenly Chapecoense

You called BLM a Marxist movement. It tells alot about you. How can clubs stay away of BLM so important to their players? Plus, the monkey chants in stadiums against black players, all that has existed and explains why supporting BLM is a must in football.

czerwonadupa

Taking the knee for a career criminal by millionaire footballers ordered by a group whose aim is to destroy western democracy & for the past 6 months organising rioting looting & killing across America.
Yea not exactly examples of believers in democracy

Majan

It’s a shame Blogs doesn’t allow me to share a recent video (December 2020) in which one of the co-founders of BLM (Patrisse Cullors) confirms she is Marxist.

YouTube: Am I A Marxist? | Patrisse Cullors

Heavenly Chapecoense

People who are sensitive to black people being treated badly by police are not trying to focus on anyone they may accuse of being marxist.
Oh Saka, what a great player?
I am sure, it is more important for Saka to be respected as a human being than being a footballer.

Fred Garvin

Yes, it must be a Marxist movement because it’s marxist to want the police to stop brutalizing people of color.

Jack of All

Do you know what a Marxist actually is?

czerwonadupa

Arsenal is a sports club & he was employed as a football not a political pundit.

Majan

Fully agree. But if you support players that take the knee for a political ideology, you should also respect a player that seeks attention for modern slavery/concentration camps.

johar

Maybe I’d have more respect if he wasn’t such a hypocrite. He supports a man who locks up any journalist who criticises him.

Ndouzi

How can an Arsenal supporter call an Arsenal player “deadwood”?

Red-Wing

Any info regarding how much we’re gonna have to pay him for reaching such agreement?

Francesc

I am sure not less than 80% of his remaining salary

Naked Cygan

Knowing how smart we are at dealing with contracts and wages, we might pay him more to go than he would have been paid if he finished his contract. Anything is possible with the smart business men at Arsenal.

Johnny 4 Hats

Carriage clock and a framed picture of Edu.

Berlingoon

Anyone knows if we had to pay him (parts of) his wages for that 6 months or not?

MrT

All of it… the remaining of his 6 month contract to be paid in 2 yrs ( rolled over )
Fenerbahce FC is not paying 1p for this 6 months duration…
Source : Turkish media

allezkev

How trustworthy are these rumours from the Turkish media?

MrT

Very reliable, being a Turk myself ( North London ) follow the football there too ( Beşiktas Fc )

JazzAFC

Apparently he has let go of £ 7 Million, so he can go and play football in Turkey.
Make of it what you want.

MrT

He hasn’t left his wages… just his bonuses he has left

allezkev

Ah, that must be his loyalty bonus due at the end of his contract, seems a fair trade.

SharpasFc

He wants to play football in Turkey!

nikoniko

No he hasn’t.

It Is What It Is

But got £8m in the summer for entering the last year of his contract….allegedly

Berlingoon

Ok, so based on the comments here, no one has a fu**in’ clue 😁

Jack

Not sure if that means we’re going to pay him off but on wages alone between now and end of season just think how handy that 6-7m would be to go towards a new signing

Tankard Gooner

Don’t think this means a payoff. If it did, no way Arsenal were going to let Fenerbache get him for free. This way Fenerbache get their man for free, we get him off the books and Mesut presumably gets to play football sooner rather than 6 months later.

nikoniko

Arsenal pays. What has not been paid is the loyalty bonus

Qwaliteee

Good. Pleased for him. Hope it heralds a new chapter for him and his young family. Some of the greatest Arsenal goals and assists involved this guy; great service and three FA Cups in four seasons to help end our hitherto trophy drought. We would have won considerably more but a utterly useless defence leaking far too many soft goals. An absolute disgrace that his talents were omitted from the team this season, when it was clear to one and all that we were missing the creativity – the team’s pathetic results and plummet to 15th in the table was… Read more »

Gunnermite

It has already started. They are already calling for the armband to be stripped from him and given to Tierney. The classy-ness that was once associated with this club left with Wenger.

David Hilliers Arm Cast

We don’t know the ins and outs of the relationship, we don’t know how he was in training. What we do know is his form suffered greatly due to the style of play MA wanted.

Can we attribute that same reasoning to the incredible dip in form for our current captain? I have no idea, what I do know is he isn’t half the player he was last season.

No foot Norbert

Auba is a very player but his form has dipped and he should be dropped, anyone else would be dropped in his position. It might ignite a bit of fire to know there’s competition.

AusGunner

ah yes, in the late Wenger years the fanbase was certainly known for the modest restraint of its judgement, and its analytical rigour

Fred Garvin

I was really disappointed not to have him in the team this season – such a waste and really poor judgment from Arteta not even to have him as an option. And I think you’re right – we did suffer from not having him.
Sad to see him go but relieved this whole thing is over now.

Inch

Still find his stats impressing, even after 3 or so seasons without contributing

The_Golden_Wrigglesworth

For quick comparison:

Ozil: 44G + 77A in 254 Apps (1 G/A every 172 mins)

Ramsey: 65G + 65A in 371 Apps (1 G/A every 185 mins)
Santi: 29G + 45A in 180 Apps (1 G/A every 200 mins)
Alexis: 80G + 45A in 166 Apps (1 G/A every 108 mins!!)

Bergkamp: 110G + 90A in 404 Apps (1 G/A every 141 mins!)
Pires: 85G + 57A in 284 Apps (1 G/A every 146 mins!)
Ljungberg: 72G + 37A in 327 Apps (1 G/A every 219 mins)

Not too shabby. But no DB 10 either.

(all stats from transfermarkt)

Alex

That’s one comparison I suppose. What about ball retention? What about goals created by the space you force defenders to leave when they’re worrying about you, something a player like Martinelli contributes? What about simply trophies?

kesface

What about all those points you mentioned, but for the above listed players? Three of those names are invincibles who did far more for the team than Ozil, including ball retention, movement, forcing defenders back and, simply, trophies.

He’s been a quality player for us, for a time, but not even the best of the Emirates era. There is no point comparing him to anyone pre-2006, he’d lose that duel.

Jac

Those stats flatter Alexis because he was such a focal point, and quite selfish with the ball. They also massively underrate Santi, who played much of his later Arsenal career in a deeper role.

Eric Blair

Interesting, but of course stats don’t tell the whole story.

Imagine if he’d kind of kept up his output from the first couple of seasons into the post-Wenger era, he would’ve gone down as a legend. Peak Özil would be a dream in this team. Regardless whose fault it is, it’s a shame it turned out like this.

Dave

Cesc?

heihaci

just imagine if we had Cesc,Santi and Alexis Sanchez playing together? didnt Wenger turn down the chace to sign Fabregas from Barca?

Public Elneny

He was past his best at that point, certainly physically

Also we had a still motivated Ozil, and iirc Rosicky, Wilshere and Ramsey too, in addition to Santi and Alexis. We certainly weren’t lacking creativity when he became available, and transfers driven by nostalgia generally don’t work out

heihaci

im pretty sure he had a good season for chelsea and the competition for ozil would have been beneficial!

Public Elneny

Yeah he was still good. But far from the sensation he was for us. He was never an athlete, but did have the legs for us to be able to be influential all over the pitch for us. He was pretty static for Chelsea although still had a genius eye for through balls

He would have been a player you would have had to build around, and we didn’t have the players for that. Chelsea had like Matic, Ramires and Mikel to cover for him, whereas we only had Ramsey sometimes when he wasn’t bombing forward

The_Golden_Wrigglesworth

He did! First season back for Cesc (2014/15) was 3G + 19A in 34 EPL apps (1 G/A every 131 mins). Think that was also the same season Ozil was out injured until January.

heihaci

thanks for the stats

Dave Cee

I’m pretty sure he didn’t want to come back to the shambolic defensive performances that undermined most of his hard work in his 1st time at Arsenal. Seemed like face saving at the time to say we didn’t need him

The_Golden_Wrigglesworth

Good point. Can’t forget Fabregas!

Cesc: 57G + 92A in 304 Apps (1 G/A every 160 mins)

And a few others from the column marked “mercurial”:

Nasri: 27G + 16A in 126 Apps (1 G/A every 222 mins)
Wilshere: 14G + 30A in 198 Apps (1 G/A every 305 mins)
Arshavin: 31G + 46A in 145 Apps (1 G/A every 113 mins!)
Rosicky: 28G + 22A in 246 Apps (1 G/A every 293 mins)

(stats from transfermarkt again)

A Different George

I think these stats show that Arshavin was nearly our greatest goal producer, second only to Alexis. And much better than Bergkamp. Hmm.

Ozzie

Yep, Arshavin our greatest goal machine, and they all came at Anfield.

Jasonissimo

Only two of those players played a significant number of games for a team finishing outside the top 4. And Ozil played more of them than Ramsey.

afl

Finaly he and his contract at arsenal are past!

I hope it also means that his supporters are now Fener supporters and that they will finaly fuck off from my beloved club and take their poison to Turkey alongside with Mesut.

Viju Jacob

Why don’t you brown nose Kroenke and leave our club alone, cuntwaffle?!

afl

wow, so inteligent and wel articulated answer.

MrT

By saying ‘ Fuck off ‘ to people you do not know is very intelligent is in it…
DICK HEAD !!!

afl

u meant dickhead?

i did not tell anyone i dont know to fuck off. it is just that you are not realy good with reading and that you can not see past your alegiance to Mesut who I dont know and yet I am more than happy that he has fucked off.

Winston

Well is spelt with two Ls as is finally , if you want to articulate correctly!

afl

sorry, living in Bosnia for 50 years and typing without autocorrect in foreign language has left consequences on my grammar.

thanks for the corrections though!

Winston

Interesting that your English improved dramatically in your later opinion, almost as if you’ve become a native overnight with such idiomatic phrases. Absolutely no need to apologize, just maybe don’t throw stones if you live in a glass house.

Reality check

Poison? I don’t think I have seen many so called Ozil fans use the you just have.

afl

well mate, i dont know how much have you been following conversations around here. not a single topic on whatsoever (be it ESR, attacking, defense, management, injuries, scouting) could have been discussed without Ozil cult-followers relating it to Ozil and the fact that he does not play.
that is sickening contamination (if the pouson is too strong word for you) and I am happy that the source of it is now gone forever.

Kareem Mohamed

What about his haters?
Will they become Galatasary fans now?

And wasn’t Ozil planning to sit out for the rest of his contract?
Whoops.

Looks like he did want to play.
He just didn’t think Arsenal would self-sabotage themselves just to drive him out.

(NB: would have been a different story if we managed to sign Aouar)

Vonnie

No, his hater will find someone else to hate, that’s what they do.

Qwaliteee

Arsenal fan since 1971.
Season ticket holder since1984.

What do you reckon, mate…?

You’ve got two hopes of getting rid of me on here – and one of them is Bob Hope.