Country: Canada
I think that is at least partly because when he does perform well (which until 2018 was the vast bulk of the time but let's not go down that road) he is one of the most enjoyable players to watch of the past decade or so. The stuff he does is what a lot of people watch the sport for, or at least a primary aspect of it.How much is an Özil performance worth?
350k?
400k?
500k?
8mil in loyalty fees?
I can’t think of many players on his salary and his performances over the years who would garner this much support. He is special in that regard.
And his decline also coincided with us going from a very fun team to watch to a much more workmanlike style. We've lost something in that regard and while that's more to do with Wenger going than Özil himself the two are somewhat linked and I think people miss that flair. I know I do.