Mesut Özil has had a mixed spell at Arsenal. When the German superstar signed for Arsenal from Spanish giants Real Madrid on Transfer Deadline Day in the summer of 2013 for a Arsenal transfer and German record £42 million, many thought the signing would kick-off the beginning of a new chapter for Arsenal, and this statement is more or less true. Arsenal finally ended their nine-year trophy drought when Aaron Ramsey scored the winner in extra-time to bring the FA Cup to the Emirates, and the North London side led the Premier League table for more than 100 days. However, injuries to key players and colossal train wrecks against big teams prevented Arsenal from winning their fourth Premier League title.
Mesut Özil’s debut season saw the German score six goals and make 11 assists in 31 appearances in all completions for Arsenal. Not bad statistics, but considering Özil scored seven goals and made 23 assists in his first season for Real Madrid, it is a pretty poor statistic to follow up on. However, when you have Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo in front of you, assisting is not a hard task to do. Many fans thought that Özil would break his first season syndrome and go back to his former, Los Blancos, self in the 2014/15 season. After the eight games Özil has played so far this season it is clear that he still hasn’t come out of his shell, however, this could be due to the fact that Arsene Wenger has been playing the attacking midfielder on the left wing for six of those games, a position that Özil himself has even admitted that he feels uncomfortable playing at.
On October 8th the German FA announced that Özil had picked up a leg injury and that the 26-year-old will be out for 10-12 weeks. Not only does this raise more questions over Arsenal’s growing injury crisis, but it also raises questions on whether Özil should belongs at Arsenal. Reports emerged over the following weekend that Özil had handed in a transfer request, but evidence has been proven on whether this statement is true or not.
If Özil does leave the Gunners in the winter, it may not be a bad thing for the club or Özil. Whilst the signing of Özil was massive for Arsenal and it sparked the beginning of the club bringing in big name players, such as Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona for £35 million in the summer of 2014, Arsenal at the time did not need another attacking midfielder with the likes of Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky already at the club. If Arsenal were to sell Özil in January it will be the best thing for both Arsenal and Mesut Özil. This is because the sale of Özil will bring in extra transfer money for Arsenal that they could use to invest into positions that they need desperate aid in, such as the defensive midfield position and back up defenders.
Another reason why the sale of Özil will benefit Arsenal is because it will make Wenger play players in their proper positions. Wenger at the moment seems to think that is a necessity that Özil plays in every game, even if that means playing him out of position. With Özil gone it will allow players such as Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla and Joel Campbell to play on the wing rather than an attacking midfielder. A move away from the Premier League will also do Özil a ton of good because the boggle eye wizard was influential for Real Madrid so maybe a move to a league that is less physical than the Premier League will help Özil revive his career.