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Mesut Özil: Över and Öut

GDeep™

League is very weak
120 goal contributions, goals and assists in 250 games? That’s ridiculous. 9 years without a trophy before he came.

One of the best players to ever play for this club, in terms of attackers only Henry/Wright stands above him.

His send off by the club is a disgrace, add that to how people like Wenger have been treated and this club can go **** itself.
 

John oxford

Member
Finally end of an era. The last remainder of Arsène’s attacking, free flowing beatiful football is gone. With mesut’s departure starts new era, i hope better one but not seems alike. In 2013 we bought best playmaker of the world football from real madrid, in 2021 we are getting a loanee that ATM not good enough to play football in real.
 

Tir Na Nog

Changes Opinion Every 5 Minutes

Country: Ireland
120 goal contributions, goals and assists in 250 games? That’s ridiculous. 9 years without a trophy before he came.

One of the best players to ever play for this club, in terms of attackers only Henry/Wright stands above him.

His send off by the club is a disgrace, add that to how people like Wenger have been treated and this club can go **** itself.

The day this club liquidates. :drool:
 

Fewtch

Özil at 10 And Emery Out

Omg I’m so sad :(
Damn this one got me
Screen_Shot_2017-12-22_at_1.47.24_PM_qjum9i.jpg
 

Macho

In search of Pure Profit 💸
Dusted 🔻

Country: England
My "friends" from The Athletic dropped a very lengthy piece about his time here at Arsenal. Apologies if posted elsewhere.

The saga is over. After seven and a half years, two contracts, total earnings of almost £100 million, 254 appearances, three FA Cups, 44 goals, and 77 assists, Mesut Özil has left Arsenal.

The Athletic revealed on January 16 he had agreed terms with Arsenal to be released from his contract six months before its expiry. To secure a move, Özil waived some of the money owed by the club. The player said his goodbyes to team-mates at the London Colney training ground on Sunday, January 17, before boarding a private jet to Turkey to finalise the deal with Fenerbahce. There is no fee involved but this will technically be a permanent transfer, so the Turkish club can pay any potential future bonuses to the Premier League side.



Arsenal and Özil will be relieved in equal measure. The player, who had his medical today, is granted a fresh start and Arsenal are freed from a contractual obligation that had become a financial and footballing millstone around their neck. For the past couple of years, the club have been fighting to implement a cultural change at London Colney. When it comes to remodelling the composition and mentality of the squad, Özil’s exit is regarded by the hierarchy as removing a fundamental brick in the wall.

The divorce between Özil and Arsenal has been long, painful, and acrimonious. The rancour has even spread into the fanbase. Aspects of Özil’s play, his character, and his background seem to inspire devotion and distaste. For several seasons now, Özil has been at the centre of a tug of war that has played out among the Arsenal support. Whatever your opinion on Özil the player — or, indeed, Özil the person — there has been a universal acceptance that this situation had become toxic and unhealthy.

There is an absurdity to it, too. Arsenal’s highest-paid player had not even been registered to be eligible for competition. For a long time, people wondered who might win: Özil or Arsenal. The question is redundant. It is a situation in which, frankly, everybody has lost, even if some common ground was found at the very end. In this article we will detail:

  • How negotiations went on the agreement to release Özil
  • The reasons behind the pay-cut dispute
  • His early years and why he was such a transformative signing
  • How his Germany career ended
  • The numbers behind his on-field decline
  • Why Arsène Wenger leaving was such a huge moment for his career
  • The breakdown in relationship with Unai Emery
  • How his Arsenal career finally unravelled
It is, at last, over. Many within and outside Arsenal were convinced Özil had become so entrenched in his position that things would drag on until the very final day of his contract. That had indeed always been Özil’s plan, but the situation has accelerated because of the player’s desire to play first-team football in what remains of the 2020-21 season.

Although Özil has considered leaving Arsenal at various difficult moments since he signed his last contract in 2018, he is said to have always been sustained by a belief he would eventually recover his place in the team. There were other factors too: he felt settled in London, was starting a family, had financial commitments and charitable projects underway. Things were certainly strained in the summer of 2020, with Özil absent for the entirety of Project Restart. However, even with Arsenal said to have been open to Özil’s camp bringing them potential options for him to leave — and offering to make up the shortfall on any lost earnings on his contract — he was unwilling to move.

It is true that Özil was financially incentivised to stay until the final year of his contract. The £350,000 figure reported regarding Özil was never a basic wage. It included playing bonuses, loyalty bonuses and image rights. As The Athletic exclusively revealed, Özil received a loyalty bonus of around £8 million in September 2020. That timing is no coincidence: it is customary for Arsenal to schedule those payments in the aftermath of a conventional transfer window. Some suggest Özil would not have contemplated leaving without receiving that payment. After that point, there were no such further bonuses due to Özil — the final pay-off negotiated with Arsenal was for remaining salary and image rights. There would have been no more agents fees either.

When he was left out of Arsenal’s squads for the Premier League and Europa League in October, the situation shifted. Now 32, he could not see a route back into Mikel Arteta’s plans — Özil has not participated in a competitive match since March.

Throughout all this, Özil has continued to train with the first team. While Arteta has given no public indication of the German causing problems or failing to train to the appropriate standard, the situation has undeniably been awkward. At no point has any serious consideration been given to recalling him. Although the loan of Sead Kolasinac to Schalke technically freed up a spot for Arsenal in the squad, the deal coincided with the club granting Özil a week off to return to Germany. Factor in the quarantine required upon return, and it was hardly indicative of an impending recall.

The manner of his exclusion from the competitive squad was an incendiary incident. The player’s representatives met with technical director Edu and then-contract negotiator Huss Fahmy during the summer transfer window to discuss potential solutions. It was explained that Özil’s opportunities would be limited, but he was prepared to embrace the challenge — he had come back from the brink before.

Özil is thought to have been open to a possible departure, but only if Arsenal committed to paying him what he was owed for the remainder of his contract — after all, he was not asking to leave and was happy in London. Despite Arsenal’s clear desire to see the player move on, no such offer was forthcoming.

Then, on Friday, October 2, it was relayed that if Özil did not leave, he would not play for Arsenal. This is said to have been the first time the possibility of him not being registered was raised. The news was delivered with the transfer window closing on October 5 at 11pm and with just four days to spare until the European squad selection deadline. Özil was angry. Arsenal hoped he would decide to leave to pursue first-team football but such late notice provided little time to negotiate a complex transfer. It drove another wedge between the player and the club — one that would ultimately precipitate Özil’s exit.

This January transfer window has seen both parties eager to find a resolution. Özil has earned approximately £15 million since he last kicked a competitive ball for Arsenal and he was on the fringes of a bloated squad. There is a recognition on both sides that this situation dragged too long. Amicable negotiations have taken place in recent weeks between Edu and Özil’s representatives, and they arrived at a solution all sides will doubtless present as a victory: Arsenal rid themselves of a player they did not want and manage to save themselves some money in the process, while Özil is free to play in Turkey.

Had Özil received approaches from the biggest European clubs, perhaps this would all have been over sooner. When the player instructed his camp to look for a move, they fielded interest from Turkey, America, Qatar and Italy. The possibility of a move to the US, most likely with DC United, held strong appeal.

Ultimately, however, Fenerbahce were the emotional choice: having been unwanted at Arsenal, embracing his Turkish roots and joining the club he supported as a boy offers satisfaction and sanctuary. Fenerbahce made Özil feel wanted and loved, with a delegation travelling to London to meet him in person. The club sit joint top of the Turkish Super Lig; they know another league title will see them reach 20, enabling them to adorn their club crest with a fourth star, and match their rivals Galatasaray.

The move will bring an end to a soap opera that began in the months before Özil signed a new contract in January 2018. During his time in north London, Özil has seemed to inspire adulation and antipathy in equal measure — with that contract operating as the pivotal moment. In his first few years at the club, Özil produced the kind of scintillating form that persuaded Arsenal to make him the highest-paid player in their history. Having put pen to paper on that contract, he failed to deliver the performances to match his extraordinary talent and found himself in conflict with a succession of coaches in the Arsenal dugout.

Arsenal’s insistence is that the player has been cast aside for football reasons. They have privately claimed he has lacked commitment to training, and to the project. While things briefly improved when Arteta was appointed, the initial lockdown — during which Özil’s first child was born — has been another complicating factor.

Off-field problems have also caused significant damage to the relationship between player and club. Özil was left disappointed when Arsenal did not publicly back his stance on the plight of the Uighur Muslims in China. The player’s private and later public opposition to the club’s pay cut in April 2020 caused more problems.

This season has brought the surreal sight of Özil live-tweeting his responses to Arsenal games. Özil has a huge audience, with five million more Instagram followers than Arsenal and nine million more Twitter followers. During this period of exclusion, his digital profile has grown — and his online comments have occasionally overshadowed the on-field action, much to the frustration of senior members of staff. As Özil saw his chance of recovering his first-team place fade, divisions deepened. Arsenal and Özil are now free of each other, but it has been a bitter battle to arrive at this point.

It was not always thus. Before Özil the social media sniper was Özil the superstar footballer — the man whose arrival transformed the perception of the club and helped end a nine-year trophy drought. Now that Özil is gone, one question lingers: just how did it come to this?

James McNicholas and David Ornstein

Zeitgeist
Come please, if you will, back to the beginning. To be more precise, venture to a late summer’s day in 2013. It was September 1, the penultimate day before the transfer window closed, and Arsenal played Tottenham Hotspur in a tightly coiled north London derby which was perfectly set up to expose the contrast between thriftiness and largesse. While Arsenal fans implored their club to “spend some ****ing money” their neighbours, having just sold a certain Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for fortunes, had been notably busy throwing their windfall around. Arsenal appeared to be awkwardly sitting on their hands.

After the game, which Arsenal won 1-0, Wenger made the point that sometimes stability is better than a load of shiny new toys. Nevertheless, he faced the usual barrage about how, when, and if he might reinforce his squad. This, remember, was the summer of the infamous £40 million-plus-a-pound bid for Luis Suarez and a fudged attempt to sign Gonzalo Higuain. “I am not against spending money,” Wenger said with his well-practised poker face. “There are 24 hours left. Maybe we can surprise you…. maybe not…”

Meanwhile, away from the public gaze and the scrutiny of the media, Wenger knew full well Arsenal were about to lavish a club record £42 million on Mesut Özil. He later enjoyed telling the story of how he went into the derby knowing this deal was happening but obviously not quite in a position to give the game away.

It is hard to overstate how monumental this transfer was at the time. Seminal. Symbolic. Zeitgeist. It represented something beyond what a class player could bring to the pitch. For Arsenal, at that complex point in their history as they tried to compete with wealthy rivals while paying off the relentless debts from the big stadium move, a reputation as a “selling club” dogged them. Depressingly, prime talents were picked off or tempted away. It all started when Ashley Cole moved to Chelsea in 2006. Then Thierry Henry and later Cesc Fabregas departed for Barcelona. Robin van Persie shot off to Manchester United. Blow after blow. Damage after damage. The context of an incoming Özil was about the scale of ambition.

Suddenly, here was an A-list arrival. Arsenal obliterated their transfer record for a high-calibre talent with his peak years ahead of him. It flipped the story completely. On the day he signed from Real Madrid, Arsenal’s fans were euphoric. There were scenes at the stadium, mass screeching and pogo-ing for the deadline day update cameras. It was probably the only time in the Emirates era Arsenal have exploded in such a way.



They were all in. Big time. First there was the umlaut phenomenon, which inspired people to add German accents to any “o” in their social media activity. Then came the hashtag he invented — #YaGunnersYa — which caught fire. Next the catchphrase — “How may I assist you?” — was a part of the image that perfectly aligned his footballing calling card with a capacity to tap into viral and marketing booms.

But of course, it was on the pitch where Arsenal were really hoping to be beguiled. It was Özil’s extensive capacity to create that most appealed to Wenger. He was equal top of the assist charts across Europe’s top leagues (alongside Lionel Messi) and on his debut set one on a plate for Olivier Giroud. Everyone looked delighted.

Özil stepped into a team that was already designed with nimble creative types in mind — Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey were all part of the picture. His first season was mixed as he got used to his new surroundings and the close attention of Premier League defenders keen to close him down. Arsenal became familiar with the Özil trademarks — languid, technical, those silk soft touches, the subtle weight of pass, seeking out spaces, a classic luxury player.

But the other side of Özil’s style was also highlighted in the games where he was marginalised, drifting to lesser effect, inviting critics of his downcast expressions or physical effort. Sky Sports put together a compilation at one point (during his early years — not recently, it must be pointed out) of him walking on the pitch. It was the sort of thing that provoked exasperation, especially with ex-pros on the punditry beat who have no time for lackadaisical ambling on the sacred Premier League turf.

In his maiden season he took a soft penalty against Bayern Munich on a fevered night which would have put his team ahead (they lost 2-0) and Özil looked dazed by his part in the outcome. He apologised in a Facebook post the following day.

https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2021/01/23061101/Arsenal-Mesut-Özil-Bayern-Munich-scaled.jpg

Özil fails to convert Arsenal’s penalty against Bayern Munich in February 2014 (Photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
Wenger was invariably supportive of Özil and sought to rebuff those who felt he was not always up for the fight. “He is a guy who works much harder than people think and his body language goes a bit against him sometimes,” was typical of the Wenger response to criticism. “In fact, that is the contradiction in him. He’s not a guy who doesn’t care. His style can sometimes look like that but he’s really the opposite character.”

The following season Alexis Sanchez arrived, took a lot of the burden for busting a gut single-handedly, and a blossoming rapport began. It was clear Arsenal’s two marquee signings connected and complemented each other, with the Chilean’s dervish running and Özil’s precision passing developing into a potent combination. The playmaker missed three months of that season with a ruptured knee ligament but the signs were there.

Having won the FA Cup in Özil’s first two seasons, Arsenal put together a genuine title challenge in 2015-16. This was undoubtedly Özil’s peak period in London. He conjured 28 goal involvements from 45 appearances, with thrilling variation in the type of assists and the target for them (from big man Giroud and livewire Sanchez to the speed of Theo Walcott and effort of Danny Welbeck). That season Özil was Arsenal’s Player of the Year and was voted Best German Abroad according to Kicker magazine. He was at his inspiring best.

Do yourself a favour and grab five or 10 minutes to check out a highlights video of Özil during this campaign. In an era when No 10s were beginning to go out of fashion, Özil, in general, demonstrated a masterclass in the position.

Arsenal finished second in the league that season, behind Leicester City. The following campaign was tougher as the competition expected around the top of the table pulled themselves together. But Özil found a moment to showcase the qualities that made him so magnetic to watch on a good day with a goal in the Champions League that instantly went around the world on repeat.

Although he always gave the impression that the thrill of the assist is what most makes him tick, particularly one that outfoxes defenders because it is laced with deception in the movement or trajectory of the ball, he also was capable of wondrous goals. Wenger always thought he should have coaxed more out of him in that way, really, given his ability.

A last-minute winner at Ludogorets will probably go down as his greatest goal in an Arsenal shirt. Sprinting onto a long pass, he lobbed the onrushing goalkeeper with a bit of topspin, dummied his way past two defenders, and guided the ball into the empty net. Every touch was imaginative, audacious, and crafted to perfection. And he made it all look like child’s play. This was Özil playing street football. This was Özil the magician. This was Özil that Arsenal were proud to have as a symbol.



It was abundantly clear that Özil and Sanchez were central to the team’s aspirations, but as time went by it was also clear there was a problem looming with both players on contracts that were ticking down simultaneously.

January 2018 will forever go down as a pivotal moment for Arsenal. They had difficult choices to make. Both players were into the last few months of their deals. Keeping both looked impossible. Losing both looked like a nightmare. The club released Sanchez to Manchester United in exchange for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, a scenario that ended up misfiring for all concerned. Arsenal duly pulled out the stops to retain Özil, which was regarded at the time as a success — albeit an eye-waveringly expensive one.

At least they knew exactly what they would be getting on the pitch for that outlay… didn’t they?

Amy Lawrence

Erdogan
Özil had met Recep Erdogan many times before. But in May 2018, the brief chat between the Arsenal playmaker, Turkey’s president and fellow Premier League-based professionals Cenk Tosun (Everton) and Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City) at London’s Four Seasons Hotel turned into a racist controversy that tragically ended the international career of one of Germany’s most influential players of this century.

Özil and Gundogan, Germans of Turkish descent, felt that there was nothing untoward in talking to the leader of their ancestral home country. They handed him signed shirts as gifts and posed for photos. But in Germany, a wave of criticism greeted the publication of the shots. Relations between the German and Turkish government were at a low at the time, a result of Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AK party brutally cracking down on opposition figures, lawyers and academics. More than 50,000 people had been imprisoned following an attempted coup by the military, including prominent German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel.

Even well-meaning observers believed the two Germany internationals had unwisely allowed themselves to become part of Erdogan’s re-election campaign. But others were quick to go much further, denouncing the meeting as having run “contrary to the values of the German Football Association”, in the words of its chairman Reinhard Grindel. The former conservative politician added that the affair didn’t “help the German FA’s integration efforts”, which left a particularly sour taste: bigots who had always doubted the German-ness of naturalised immigrants in general and Turks in particular now had political cover to claim that Özil’s and Gundogan’s loyalty laid with another country. Some right-wing politicians and commentators demanded the pair’s expulsion from the national squad.

Both were hosted by German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier in a stage-managed effort to show their true allegiance. Gundogan released a statement, claiming that meeting Erdogan was a question of respect, not politics, whereas Özil kept his counsel. Both were jeered by sections of supporters during a friendly defeat by Austria. Gundogan broke down and cried in the dressing room when he was singled out by the crowd once more in a game against Saudi Arabia.

Joachim Low backed them both to come good at the World Cup in Russia. But the team didn’t. In the wake of their shocking 1-0 defeat by Mexico, former international Lothar Matthaus said that Özil “didn’t feel happy in a Germany shirt”. The dust hadn’t yet settled on Germany’s 2018 group-stage exit and many papers illustrated their scathing match reports from the 2-0 defeat by South Korea with photos of Özil when Grindel told Kicker magazine that supporters “rightly expected answers” from the London-based No 10, blaming him implicitly for the poor showing. Özil’s answer came a month later, announcing his resignation from the national team in three explosive parts.

https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/upl...rmany-Özil-Gundogan-scaled-e1611401186940.jpg

Özil and Gundogan during Germany’s 2018 World Cup match against Sweden (Photo: Stefan Matzke/sampics/Corbis via Getty Images)
Firstly, he explained that he had “two hearts, one German, one Turkish” and that he had met Erdogan “out of respect for his family’s country”, but not to endorse his policies. Özil went on to criticise the fact that sponsors had dropped him in the wake of the row and that “certain German newspapers” had turned the Erdogan photo into “right-wing propaganda to further their political cause”. He reprinted a raft of revolting, racist insults directed at him in letters and emails, and specifically pointed at the head of the German FA for fuelling the pile-on. “In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose,” he wrote, noting that the politician had in the past said that Islamic culture had become “too ingrained” in many German cities. “Whilst I attempted to explain my heritage, ancestry and therefore reasoning behind the photo, he was far more interested in speaking about his own political views and belittling my opinion,” Özil added.

The player’s hurt was clearly compounded by the fact that neither the team nor the FA had publicly rallied around him and spoken out against his ill treatment by sections of the public. But that wasn’t quite the end of this sordid matter. Some of his Germany team-mates either didn’t read his lengthy statement, written in English, fully or wilfully misunderstood it. Toni Kroos, Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller all insisted Özil hadn’t encountered any racism within the team, when in fact Özil had never claimed such a thing.

Grindel left his post eight months later, in the wake of receiving an undeclared gift of an expensive watch. But by then, the damage was long done. Özil, the former poster boy for multiculturalism whose creative genius had been at the forefront of transforming the national team’s footballing identity, felt he could no longer represent the Black and White for fear of being made a scapegoat and a lightning rod for racist sentiments.

It’s hard to conceive of a more depressing end to anyone’s career, let alone his one. The then 29-year-old assist king had done more than most to make a new Germany, in both senses of the word, but sadly found that when reactionaries feel emboldened, even World Cup winners will be subjected to age-old prejudice.

Raphael Honigstein

Creator
There’s good reason for the Özil “assist” memes, given his creative stats in his time in the Premier League. He came as close as anyone has done in recent seasons to breaking Thierry Henry’s record of 20 assists in a season, and was Arsenal’s top assister in three of the last eight campaigns.

1_arsenal_assists.png


It is perhaps unsurprising then to see Özil near the top of the chance creation charts for the Premier League since 2013-14. Christian Eriksen just pips him overall — it had to be a Tottenham player, didn’t it? — but on a per 90 minutes basis, only Kevin De Bruyne’s figures surpass him out of the top 20.

5_ozil_assists-1.png


His vision and weight of pass meant he racked up chances created like no-one else at times. Even last season at Arsenal, in which he played just 39 per cent of available minutes under Emery, Freddie Ljungberg and Arteta, he was pipped only by Nicolas Pepe in terms of overall chances created.

2_ozil_chances-1.png


Much of Özil’s magic came from open play, threading disguised passes into the penalty area, or whipping in dangerous crosses after floating into a wide position. In fact, looking at individual player seasons, he features more than anyone else in the top 20 when it comes to creating chances in open play, with four of his first five seasons in the league making the cut.

His best season for assists, in which he notched 19 in 2015-16, was not even his best year for creating chances. That fell to 2017-18, which was the best single season for a creator up until last season, and is also under threat this year from Jack Grealish and Bruno Fernandes.

3_ozil_op_chances.png


Considering the chart below showing his assists and chances created per 90 minutes, it is obvious how linked Özil’s decline is to Arsenal’s post-Wenger era.

4_ozil_decline.png


Looking at Özil’s numbers from smarterscout, there is very little that changed in his game across these two periods. In terms of his actual attacking output in terms of xG from shot creation and ball progression — the former being his contributions to scoring, the latter being his contributions to repeatedly progressing the ball upfield — both dropped off after Wenger left having taken a hit in the Frenchman’s last season, in which Arsenal finished sixth.

Elsewhere though he was largely the same player he has always been. Özil always had something of an allergy to shooting, and on a per-touch basis — which is the number behind the smarterscout rating of 0-99 — he rarely looked to shoot. Most of his touches came with him linking play, interchanging passes when he floated out to the wings, or around the penalty area.

Defensively too, he never really shirked the label of being “lazy”. The smarterscout numbers below reflect that, for his position, he was well below average when it came to disrupting opposition moves.

6_ozil_style-1.png


What did change, though, was how the team around him looked to play. Özil thrived when he could play a largely free role, but he seemingly always had a presence in the centre of the pitch.

That is reflected in his touch map below, which shows the change in touches per 90 across the different areas of the pitch. In his best season at Arsenal, he was practically doubling his number of touches in the middle of the park and just outside the penalty area compared to his last season under Arteta and Emery.

To pass into the area consistently and create chances for your team-mates, you need to see a lot of the ball in attacking positions. Recent Arsenal sides have focused more of their play on the wings, to the detriment of Özil.

7_mesut_ozil_touch_map_2019-20_vs_2015-16-1.png


Özil was once one of the Premier League’s best attackers, and it is likely that he will stay around in some of these chance creating and assisting charts for quite some seasons to come.

His decline, though, is up for debate. Is he a player who now, at 32, is well past the peak of his powers, or is he one who in recent seasons hasn’t played in an environment that has previously matched his qualities so perfectly?

Tom Worville

Unravelling
The stats only show one side of how Wenger’s departure affected Özil. Following the Frenchman’s exit at the end of the 2017-18 season, following a 22-year love affair, the club had to prepare for the lasting effects that come with such drastic change.

Among those was the man-management of Özil. Admired by Wenger since his Werder Bremen days, the playmaker was very much “Arsène Wenger’s man” and it showed in the careful way he was handled.

“Özil is an artist who feels football through all the pores of his skin and soul. He needs to be constantly encouraged and he needs to feel close to his coach and have a relationship of trust with him,” Wenger admitted in his autobiography, Arsène Wenger: My Life in Red and White. “Being hard on him doesn’t work. Like all artists, he needs to feel supported in his creativity.”

That support oozed from Wenger. Aaron Ramsey admitting the German would get extra days off from training is an example that was received in differing ways. How the manager helped Özil and his family acclimatise to London — allowing them to stay with his own family the day of Özil’s debut vs Sunderland — offers a closer glimpse of the value of nurturing his new talent.


The German also had many friends — and still does — at the club. He once went on holiday with Danny Welbeck to Marrakech and retains the support of a close group of players, though that network is now starting to thin, with Shkodran Mustafi in the final six months of his contract and Kolasinac and Matteo Guendouzi both on loan, at Schalke and Hertha Berlin respectively.

Sven Mislintat, then the head of recruitment, was among those who were sceptical about Özil’s new contract but ultimately the Arsenal leadership — including Wenger, Gazidis and **** Law — gave it the green light. Director Josh Kroenke was at London Colney on the day it was signed, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arriving at Arsenal on the same day. Raul Sanllehi joined the club as head of football soon after; he is thought to have backed each coach in their selection decisions over Özil and attempted to facilitate a transfer for the German during his spell at Arsenal.

Özil’s creative support on the pitch also departed soon after Wenger. Within a year, Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla had moved on leaving a 30-year-old Özil as Arsenal’s sole playmaker. He was already experiencing turbulence under Emery.

Arriving at Arsenal after dealing with the high-profile stars of Paris Saint-Germain, Emery — who held talks about bringing Özil to PSG in January 2018 — was keen to make his mark early in north London. Along with all the other interviewees for the job at the time, which included current manager Arteta, he saw Özil as a key player and wanted him to be the leader of the team. This sentiment was echoed at senior level with Gazidis, then chief executive, making a speech ahead of the new campaign on the pre-season tour in Singapore. Özil was singled out for a special mention after his struggles with Germany at the World Cup that summer, with Gazidis welcoming back the No 10 to his true home.

At the heart of Emery’s new era was a desire for the intensity of work done by players, with and without possession, to be equal. With Özil seemingly not best suited to this approach, cracks began to emerge in August 2018.

On the day of a Premier League fixture at Chelsea, Özil is said to have been informed there was a possibility he might not be selected, as it was an away fixture requiring greater physicality and defensive resilience. The No 10 insisted he wanted to be involved, however, and the head coach was encouraged enough by this response to select him. But, substituted after 68 minutes, Özil cut a frustrated figure as he walked off the Stamford Bridge turf and was not involved in the following matchday squad against West Ham United, with the club stating he was ill. There was no mention of leaving the club at this point, but Özil’s impression was that Emery’s superiors wanted him out. Arsenal strongly deny this and say Özil’s selection has always been a technical consideration, and thus at the discretion of the coach.

Despite this, the German, having been included in the captains’ group, was given the armband on multiple occasions in the 2018-19 season — four consecutive times in the Premier League in October-November as Emery tried to rebuild an Özil-enthused Arsenal. Arguably his finest post-Wenger moment came when he led the side at home to Leicester City. Afterwards, with Özil featuring prominently in many national newspapers owing to his outstanding display, Emery allegedly told him not to get carried away with one performance. Özil, with his significant international and European experience, did not take the feedback well and in the next Premier League game at Crystal Palace, the skipper was substituted after 68 minutes, with Arsenal needing a winner, following a lacklustre display.

But the skill and guile did not seem to be enough. Asked why Özil was an unused substitute against Bournemouth a month later (below), Emery said: “We thought how we can be better in the match today, a very demanding match with physicality and intensity.

https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2021/01/23064805/Özil-Arsenal-Bournemouth-scaled.jpg

(Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
“In the beginning of the season, we were speaking every day about the need to be competitive. We need to be organised, we need the individual quality to improve our performance. It is the same today.”

Colleagues spoke of the pair rowing in Emery’s office, with Özil said to believe the head coach did not respect him enough.

In January 2019 Emery is said to have told Özil that perhaps it would be best for everyone if he were to leave. However, sources claim the hierarchy convinced him that an Özil exit would cause too much disruption in the middle of the season, so he backed down. The 2014 World Cup winner, for his part, decided to remain and fight for his place — a battle, at least initially, he won.

Özil was not helped by a succession of problematic pre-seasons. The fallout from the World Cup was followed in the summer of 2019 by Özil, his wife Amine and team-mate Kolasinac becoming the victims of a car-jacking attempt. Arsenal were supportive, allowing him to return to Germany and granting co-ordinated security. They hoped that, despite the nasty nature of the incident, that by giving him their backing a new positive relationship could develop. Özil was stoic throughout the ordeal, but security concerns forced him to miss the start of the season.

Nevertheless, he played and occasionally captained Arsenal in the early part of 2019-20, silencing the whole of Anfield before the away end exploded in astonishment with his assist for Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the 5-5 Carabao Cup draw in October 2019. He was still capable of magical moments.

Then came Özil’s comments on China’s persecution of the Uighur Muslim population in the north-west region of Xinjiang in December 2019. Özil spoke out strongly as it was believed the Chinese government had detained up to a million Uighurs, a mostly Muslim-Turkish ethnicity, in “re-education camps” and a programme of forced sterilisation against the women.

The UK had been among 23 countries to speak out against the Chinese government, which denied the mistreatment, but Özil was strident in his views. He said on Instagram: “East Turkistan, the bleeding wound of the Ummah, resisting against the persecutors trying to separate them from their religion. They burn their Qurans. They shut down their mosques. They ban their schools. They kill their holy men. The men are forced into camps and their families are forced to live with Chinese men. The women are forced to marry Chinese men. But Muslims are silent. They won’t make a noise. They have abandoned them. Don’t they know that giving consent for persecution is persecution itself?”

Arsenal distanced themselves from his comments, releasing a statement that read: “Regarding the comments made by Mesut Özil on social media, Arsenal must make a clear statement. The content published is Özil’s personal opinion. As a football club, Arsenal has always adhered to the principle of not involving itself in politics.”

By this time, Emery had been replaced and Freddie Ljungberg installed as interim manager. On the pitch, a similar pattern emerged in the post-Wenger era; there was to be less leeway for the squad as a whole — and Özil as a result.

When substituted for Emile Smith Rowe by Ljungberg against Manchester City in their final home match before Christmas, the playmaker kicked his gloves in frustration. Absent owing to injury in the following game against Everton, Ljungberg said he would have stuck by the decision even if he was fit.

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(Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)
“He walked off, took his things (gloves) and kicked them and the fans were not happy and when I was asked about it I said, ‘For me, at Arsenal, that’s not how we behave, that’s not what we do’ and I stand by that,” Ljungberg explained at Goodison Park.

“Mesut was injured but I would not have picked him for the squad (to play Everton) because I want to make a stance that that’s not what I accept from an Arsenal player.”

A new broom seemed to sweep through the club with Arteta’s appointment and Özil started all 10 of Arsenal’s Premier League games before the first lockdown. The new Spanish coach had identified Özil’s reintegration as a priority because he knew the talent he possessed, having been a former team-mate. Debate about his inclusion in the team rumbled on, though. Similar to under Emery, whether he was a player Arteta could rely upon to contribute to the pressing game was a common criticism.

In those 10 games, however, there was evidence he could, while still retaining his attacking edge. In the first half against Chelsea, for example, he was in total control and the freedom he enjoyed forced Frank Lampard into an early change, bringing on Jorginho to monitor him.

As time passed, however, those flashes of brilliance were less frequent. Although Arteta and Özil lived on the same road, the distance between them widened as the Spaniard’s reign continued. Their communication is said to have become increasingly limited since the pay dispute last year when the Arsenal squad — and Arteta himself — agreed a 12.5 per cent pay cut to help with the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Özil refused and later explained why.

“My position is clear,” the 32-year-old exclusively told The Athletic in August 2020. “I’m here through to the last day of our agreement.”

Özil was unhappy that Arteta got involved in the dispute. In his view, the Spaniard should not have participated — it was an issue between executive management and the team. They had been team-mates in the past and Özil felt Arteta, if anything, should have been on the players’ side.

Özil — who sources indicate has never had a formal disciplinary incident or fine at Arsenal — is said to have asked for written confirmation that nobody would get fired, but Arsenal were in a hurry to announce a cut. He did not believe player contracts should be changed without their representatives being consulted. The first time some of them were contacted on the issue was less than 24 hours before the announcement. Özil says he was potentially prepared to take a higher cut but he wanted assurances it would be used to support people at the club and not for other purposes. Instead, Özil and his team decided to use that money for a food project in London that continues to this day.

Arteta’s relationship with Özil had started to deteriorate before the pay dispute, with the club strongly denying that any off-field incidents would impact on team selection. Instead, a perceived lack of training intensity is said to have been the cause of his omission.

“I have given a lot to Arsenal, on and off the pitch, so the reaction was disappointing,” he told The Athletic on the subject of the pay cuts. “They said they don’t get involved in politics but this isn’t politics and they have got involved in other issues.

“As players, we all wanted to contribute, but we needed more information and many questions were unanswered.”

The fallout ensured that Özil entered the final year of his contract with the writing on the wall and his relationship fractured beyond most would have imagined under Wenger.

Deciding to leave Özil unregistered in the Premier League and Europa League proved to be the final straw.

Art de Roché and David Ornstein

Contrasts
A lyric from the song Arsenal fans chose for him all those years ago is more resonant today, in a way. “We’ve got Özil, Mesut Özil, I just don’t think you understand…”

Understanding Özil was never particularly straightforward because he has been such a singular player — so capable of effortless brilliance and yet evidently so difficult to use in a consistent and reliable way. In all of his seven and a half seasons at Arsenal, there is probably only one in which his efforts were more or less unquestioned.

Towards the final days of his time at the club when he was in exile, understanding it all was an exercise in frustration. How could a player able to hit such technical high notes find himself with the plug pulled?

He has become a divisive figure since the fallout with the club. His disciples fervently believe he has been wronged and will never accept the sense in leaving out such an experienced playmaker when the team could not create for toffee. Others were more sympathetic of Arteta’s preference to try to forge his own team without distraction and friction. He is a player who tends to provoke extreme feelings — whether supportive or critical.

How will Arsenal remember the Özil years? It is a collage of contrasting images: The moments of gaspingly great skill. The drooping shoulders in a game that passes him by. The assist addiction. The stardust. The quiet moments of prayer before kick-off. The millstone contract. The slow divorce that was horrible for all parties.

Even though he arrived as the perfect signing for the moment he left with a sense of wondering whether he was the right player for this team, this league, this age, or whether Arsenal was the right place for him. Özil had his way of playing whatever the circumstances. The gossamer touch needed space, the tempo sometimes made him look a genius and at others a languid lightweight.

He was a committed artist — flaws and all. Sometimes he could produce something with a stroke that was breathtakingly beautiful. Other times it was as if there was no paint on his brush.

One thing is certain — there are not many Mesut Özil types playing these days, not many in this increasingly athletic game whose style reflects wafting mavericks from a bygone age.

Now, for Arsenal, the curtain has fallen on the relationship that started with such a thrill and finished so icily. They have gone their separate ways. Time for everyone to move on.
 

freeglennhelder2

Established Member

Country: England

Player:Elneny

Thanks for taking the time to post mate. I dont get the part I have pasted above. Apart from the US secreteary of state, no one, anywhere backed his statement. No company, no organisation, no other sports stars, no heads of state. We all know why of cour$$e

Its really unreallistic to expect Arsenal to back him, and doubly so now the stories are emerging about Erdogans deportation of Uighurs back to China. Since this incident there have been constant posts on social media that 'Arsenal are anti-muslim'. The whole thing just doesnt hold water for me.
 

Breezy

Active Member
120 goal contributions, goals and assists in 250 games? That’s ridiculous. 9 years without a trophy before he came.

One of the best players to ever play for this club, in terms of attackers only Henry/Wright stands above him.

His send off by the club is a disgrace, add that to how people like Wenger have been treated and this club can go **** itself.

Özil above Bergkamp, Van Persie and Pires? :lol:
 

Rimaal

Mesmerised By Raccoons
Trusted ⭐
My "friends" from The Athletic dropped a very lengthy piece about his time here at Arsenal. Apologies if posted elsewhere.

The saga is over. After seven and a half years, two contracts, total earnings of almost £100 million, 254 appearances, three FA Cups, 44 goals, and 77 assists, Mesut Özil has left Arsenal.

The Athletic revealed on January 16 he had agreed terms with Arsenal to be released from his contract six months before its expiry. To secure a move, Özil waived some of the money owed by the club. The player said his goodbyes to team-mates at the London Colney training ground on Sunday, January 17, before boarding a private jet to Turkey to finalise the deal with Fenerbahce. There is no fee involved but this will technically be a permanent transfer, so the Turkish club can pay any potential future bonuses to the Premier League side.



Arsenal and Özil will be relieved in equal measure. The player, who had his medical today, is granted a fresh start and Arsenal are freed from a contractual obligation that had become a financial and footballing millstone around their neck. For the past couple of years, the club have been fighting to implement a cultural change at London Colney. When it comes to remodelling the composition and mentality of the squad, Özil’s exit is regarded by the hierarchy as removing a fundamental brick in the wall.

The divorce between Özil and Arsenal has been long, painful, and acrimonious. The rancour has even spread into the fanbase. Aspects of Özil’s play, his character, and his background seem to inspire devotion and distaste. For several seasons now, Özil has been at the centre of a tug of war that has played out among the Arsenal support. Whatever your opinion on Özil the player — or, indeed, Özil the person — there has been a universal acceptance that this situation had become toxic and unhealthy.

There is an absurdity to it, too. Arsenal’s highest-paid player had not even been registered to be eligible for competition. For a long time, people wondered who might win: Özil or Arsenal. The question is redundant. It is a situation in which, frankly, everybody has lost, even if some common ground was found at the very end. In this article we will detail:

  • How negotiations went on the agreement to release Özil
  • The reasons behind the pay-cut dispute
  • His early years and why he was such a transformative signing
  • How his Germany career ended
  • The numbers behind his on-field decline
  • Why Arsène Wenger leaving was such a huge moment for his career
  • The breakdown in relationship with Unai Emery
  • How his Arsenal career finally unravelled
It is, at last, over. Many within and outside Arsenal were convinced Özil had become so entrenched in his position that things would drag on until the very final day of his contract. That had indeed always been Özil’s plan, but the situation has accelerated because of the player’s desire to play first-team football in what remains of the 2020-21 season.

Although Özil has considered leaving Arsenal at various difficult moments since he signed his last contract in 2018, he is said to have always been sustained by a belief he would eventually recover his place in the team. There were other factors too: he felt settled in London, was starting a family, had financial commitments and charitable projects underway. Things were certainly strained in the summer of 2020, with Özil absent for the entirety of Project Restart. However, even with Arsenal said to have been open to Özil’s camp bringing them potential options for him to leave — and offering to make up the shortfall on any lost earnings on his contract — he was unwilling to move.

It is true that Özil was financially incentivised to stay until the final year of his contract. The £350,000 figure reported regarding Özil was never a basic wage. It included playing bonuses, loyalty bonuses and image rights. As The Athletic exclusively revealed, Özil received a loyalty bonus of around £8 million in September 2020. That timing is no coincidence: it is customary for Arsenal to schedule those payments in the aftermath of a conventional transfer window. Some suggest Özil would not have contemplated leaving without receiving that payment. After that point, there were no such further bonuses due to Özil — the final pay-off negotiated with Arsenal was for remaining salary and image rights. There would have been no more agents fees either.

When he was left out of Arsenal’s squads for the Premier League and Europa League in October, the situation shifted. Now 32, he could not see a route back into Mikel Arteta’s plans — Özil has not participated in a competitive match since March.

Throughout all this, Özil has continued to train with the first team. While Arteta has given no public indication of the German causing problems or failing to train to the appropriate standard, the situation has undeniably been awkward. At no point has any serious consideration been given to recalling him. Although the loan of Sead Kolasinac to Schalke technically freed up a spot for Arsenal in the squad, the deal coincided with the club granting Özil a week off to return to Germany. Factor in the quarantine required upon return, and it was hardly indicative of an impending recall.

The manner of his exclusion from the competitive squad was an incendiary incident. The player’s representatives met with technical director Edu and then-contract negotiator Huss Fahmy during the summer transfer window to discuss potential solutions. It was explained that Özil’s opportunities would be limited, but he was prepared to embrace the challenge — he had come back from the brink before.

Özil is thought to have been open to a possible departure, but only if Arsenal committed to paying him what he was owed for the remainder of his contract — after all, he was not asking to leave and was happy in London. Despite Arsenal’s clear desire to see the player move on, no such offer was forthcoming.

Then, on Friday, October 2, it was relayed that if Özil did not leave, he would not play for Arsenal. This is said to have been the first time the possibility of him not being registered was raised. The news was delivered with the transfer window closing on October 5 at 11pm and with just four days to spare until the European squad selection deadline. Özil was angry. Arsenal hoped he would decide to leave to pursue first-team football but such late notice provided little time to negotiate a complex transfer. It drove another wedge between the player and the club — one that would ultimately precipitate Özil’s exit.

This January transfer window has seen both parties eager to find a resolution. Özil has earned approximately £15 million since he last kicked a competitive ball for Arsenal and he was on the fringes of a bloated squad. There is a recognition on both sides that this situation dragged too long. Amicable negotiations have taken place in recent weeks between Edu and Özil’s representatives, and they arrived at a solution all sides will doubtless present as a victory: Arsenal rid themselves of a player they did not want and manage to save themselves some money in the process, while Özil is free to play in Turkey.

Had Özil received approaches from the biggest European clubs, perhaps this would all have been over sooner. When the player instructed his camp to look for a move, they fielded interest from Turkey, America, Qatar and Italy. The possibility of a move to the US, most likely with DC United, held strong appeal.

Ultimately, however, Fenerbahce were the emotional choice: having been unwanted at Arsenal, embracing his Turkish roots and joining the club he supported as a boy offers satisfaction and sanctuary. Fenerbahce made Özil feel wanted and loved, with a delegation travelling to London to meet him in person. The club sit joint top of the Turkish Super Lig; they know another league title will see them reach 20, enabling them to adorn their club crest with a fourth star, and match their rivals Galatasaray.

The move will bring an end to a soap opera that began in the months before Özil signed a new contract in January 2018. During his time in north London, Özil has seemed to inspire adulation and antipathy in equal measure — with that contract operating as the pivotal moment. In his first few years at the club, Özil produced the kind of scintillating form that persuaded Arsenal to make him the highest-paid player in their history. Having put pen to paper on that contract, he failed to deliver the performances to match his extraordinary talent and found himself in conflict with a succession of coaches in the Arsenal dugout.

Arsenal’s insistence is that the player has been cast aside for football reasons. They have privately claimed he has lacked commitment to training, and to the project. While things briefly improved when Arteta was appointed, the initial lockdown — during which Özil’s first child was born — has been another complicating factor.

Off-field problems have also caused significant damage to the relationship between player and club. Özil was left disappointed when Arsenal did not publicly back his stance on the plight of the Uighur Muslims in China. The player’s private and later public opposition to the club’s pay cut in April 2020 caused more problems.

This season has brought the surreal sight of Özil live-tweeting his responses to Arsenal games. Özil has a huge audience, with five million more Instagram followers than Arsenal and nine million more Twitter followers. During this period of exclusion, his digital profile has grown — and his online comments have occasionally overshadowed the on-field action, much to the frustration of senior members of staff. As Özil saw his chance of recovering his first-team place fade, divisions deepened. Arsenal and Özil are now free of each other, but it has been a bitter battle to arrive at this point.

It was not always thus. Before Özil the social media sniper was Özil the superstar footballer — the man whose arrival transformed the perception of the club and helped end a nine-year trophy drought. Now that Özil is gone, one question lingers: just how did it come to this?

James McNicholas and David Ornstein

Zeitgeist
Come please, if you will, back to the beginning. To be more precise, venture to a late summer’s day in 2013. It was September 1, the penultimate day before the transfer window closed, and Arsenal played Tottenham Hotspur in a tightly coiled north London derby which was perfectly set up to expose the contrast between thriftiness and largesse. While Arsenal fans implored their club to “spend some ****ing money” their neighbours, having just sold a certain Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for fortunes, had been notably busy throwing their windfall around. Arsenal appeared to be awkwardly sitting on their hands.

After the game, which Arsenal won 1-0, Wenger made the point that sometimes stability is better than a load of shiny new toys. Nevertheless, he faced the usual barrage about how, when, and if he might reinforce his squad. This, remember, was the summer of the infamous £40 million-plus-a-pound bid for Luis Suarez and a fudged attempt to sign Gonzalo Higuain. “I am not against spending money,” Wenger said with his well-practised poker face. “There are 24 hours left. Maybe we can surprise you…. maybe not…”

Meanwhile, away from the public gaze and the scrutiny of the media, Wenger knew full well Arsenal were about to lavish a club record £42 million on Mesut Özil. He later enjoyed telling the story of how he went into the derby knowing this deal was happening but obviously not quite in a position to give the game away.

It is hard to overstate how monumental this transfer was at the time. Seminal. Symbolic. Zeitgeist. It represented something beyond what a class player could bring to the pitch. For Arsenal, at that complex point in their history as they tried to compete with wealthy rivals while paying off the relentless debts from the big stadium move, a reputation as a “selling club” dogged them. Depressingly, prime talents were picked off or tempted away. It all started when Ashley Cole moved to Chelsea in 2006. Then Thierry Henry and later Cesc Fabregas departed for Barcelona. Robin van Persie shot off to Manchester United. Blow after blow. Damage after damage. The context of an incoming Özil was about the scale of ambition.

Suddenly, here was an A-list arrival. Arsenal obliterated their transfer record for a high-calibre talent with his peak years ahead of him. It flipped the story completely. On the day he signed from Real Madrid, Arsenal’s fans were euphoric. There were scenes at the stadium, mass screeching and pogo-ing for the deadline day update cameras. It was probably the only time in the Emirates era Arsenal have exploded in such a way.



They were all in. Big time. First there was the umlaut phenomenon, which inspired people to add German accents to any “o” in their social media activity. Then came the hashtag he invented — #YaGunnersYa — which caught fire. Next the catchphrase — “How may I assist you?” — was a part of the image that perfectly aligned his footballing calling card with a capacity to tap into viral and marketing booms.

But of course, it was on the pitch where Arsenal were really hoping to be beguiled. It was Özil’s extensive capacity to create that most appealed to Wenger. He was equal top of the assist charts across Europe’s top leagues (alongside Lionel Messi) and on his debut set one on a plate for Olivier Giroud. Everyone looked delighted.

Özil stepped into a team that was already designed with nimble creative types in mind — Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey were all part of the picture. His first season was mixed as he got used to his new surroundings and the close attention of Premier League defenders keen to close him down. Arsenal became familiar with the Özil trademarks — languid, technical, those silk soft touches, the subtle weight of pass, seeking out spaces, a classic luxury player.

But the other side of Özil’s style was also highlighted in the games where he was marginalised, drifting to lesser effect, inviting critics of his downcast expressions or physical effort. Sky Sports put together a compilation at one point (during his early years — not recently, it must be pointed out) of him walking on the pitch. It was the sort of thing that provoked exasperation, especially with ex-pros on the punditry beat who have no time for lackadaisical ambling on the sacred Premier League turf.

In his maiden season he took a soft penalty against Bayern Munich on a fevered night which would have put his team ahead (they lost 2-0) and Özil looked dazed by his part in the outcome. He apologised in a Facebook post the following day.

https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2021/01/23061101/Arsenal-Mesut-Özil-Bayern-Munich-scaled.jpg

Özil fails to convert Arsenal’s penalty against Bayern Munich in February 2014 (Photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
Wenger was invariably supportive of Özil and sought to rebuff those who felt he was not always up for the fight. “He is a guy who works much harder than people think and his body language goes a bit against him sometimes,” was typical of the Wenger response to criticism. “In fact, that is the contradiction in him. He’s not a guy who doesn’t care. His style can sometimes look like that but he’s really the opposite character.”

The following season Alexis Sanchez arrived, took a lot of the burden for busting a gut single-handedly, and a blossoming rapport began. It was clear Arsenal’s two marquee signings connected and complemented each other, with the Chilean’s dervish running and Özil’s precision passing developing into a potent combination. The playmaker missed three months of that season with a ruptured knee ligament but the signs were there.

Having won the FA Cup in Özil’s first two seasons, Arsenal put together a genuine title challenge in 2015-16. This was undoubtedly Özil’s peak period in London. He conjured 28 goal involvements from 45 appearances, with thrilling variation in the type of assists and the target for them (from big man Giroud and livewire Sanchez to the speed of Theo Walcott and effort of Danny Welbeck). That season Özil was Arsenal’s Player of the Year and was voted Best German Abroad according to Kicker magazine. He was at his inspiring best.

Do yourself a favour and grab five or 10 minutes to check out a highlights video of Özil during this campaign. In an era when No 10s were beginning to go out of fashion, Özil, in general, demonstrated a masterclass in the position.

Arsenal finished second in the league that season, behind Leicester City. The following campaign was tougher as the competition expected around the top of the table pulled themselves together. But Özil found a moment to showcase the qualities that made him so magnetic to watch on a good day with a goal in the Champions League that instantly went around the world on repeat.

Although he always gave the impression that the thrill of the assist is what most makes him tick, particularly one that outfoxes defenders because it is laced with deception in the movement or trajectory of the ball, he also was capable of wondrous goals. Wenger always thought he should have coaxed more out of him in that way, really, given his ability.

A last-minute winner at Ludogorets will probably go down as his greatest goal in an Arsenal shirt. Sprinting onto a long pass, he lobbed the onrushing goalkeeper with a bit of topspin, dummied his way past two defenders, and guided the ball into the empty net. Every touch was imaginative, audacious, and crafted to perfection. And he made it all look like child’s play. This was Özil playing street football. This was Özil the magician. This was Özil that Arsenal were proud to have as a symbol.



It was abundantly clear that Özil and Sanchez were central to the team’s aspirations, but as time went by it was also clear there was a problem looming with both players on contracts that were ticking down simultaneously.

January 2018 will forever go down as a pivotal moment for Arsenal. They had difficult choices to make. Both players were into the last few months of their deals. Keeping both looked impossible. Losing both looked like a nightmare. The club released Sanchez to Manchester United in exchange for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, a scenario that ended up misfiring for all concerned. Arsenal duly pulled out the stops to retain Özil, which was regarded at the time as a success — albeit an eye-waveringly expensive one.

At least they knew exactly what they would be getting on the pitch for that outlay… didn’t they?

Amy Lawrence

Erdogan
Özil had met Recep Erdogan many times before. But in May 2018, the brief chat between the Arsenal playmaker, Turkey’s president and fellow Premier League-based professionals Cenk Tosun (Everton) and Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City) at London’s Four Seasons Hotel turned into a racist controversy that tragically ended the international career of one of Germany’s most influential players of this century.

Özil and Gundogan, Germans of Turkish descent, felt that there was nothing untoward in talking to the leader of their ancestral home country. They handed him signed shirts as gifts and posed for photos. But in Germany, a wave of criticism greeted the publication of the shots. Relations between the German and Turkish government were at a low at the time, a result of Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AK party brutally cracking down on opposition figures, lawyers and academics. More than 50,000 people had been imprisoned following an attempted coup by the military, including prominent German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel.

Even well-meaning observers believed the two Germany internationals had unwisely allowed themselves to become part of Erdogan’s re-election campaign. But others were quick to go much further, denouncing the meeting as having run “contrary to the values of the German Football Association”, in the words of its chairman Reinhard Grindel. The former conservative politician added that the affair didn’t “help the German FA’s integration efforts”, which left a particularly sour taste: bigots who had always doubted the German-ness of naturalised immigrants in general and Turks in particular now had political cover to claim that Özil’s and Gundogan’s loyalty laid with another country. Some right-wing politicians and commentators demanded the pair’s expulsion from the national squad.

Both were hosted by German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier in a stage-managed effort to show their true allegiance. Gundogan released a statement, claiming that meeting Erdogan was a question of respect, not politics, whereas Özil kept his counsel. Both were jeered by sections of supporters during a friendly defeat by Austria. Gundogan broke down and cried in the dressing room when he was singled out by the crowd once more in a game against Saudi Arabia.

Joachim Low backed them both to come good at the World Cup in Russia. But the team didn’t. In the wake of their shocking 1-0 defeat by Mexico, former international Lothar Matthaus said that Özil “didn’t feel happy in a Germany shirt”. The dust hadn’t yet settled on Germany’s 2018 group-stage exit and many papers illustrated their scathing match reports from the 2-0 defeat by South Korea with photos of Özil when Grindel told Kicker magazine that supporters “rightly expected answers” from the London-based No 10, blaming him implicitly for the poor showing. Özil’s answer came a month later, announcing his resignation from the national team in three explosive parts.

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Özil and Gundogan during Germany’s 2018 World Cup match against Sweden (Photo: Stefan Matzke/sampics/Corbis via Getty Images)
Firstly, he explained that he had “two hearts, one German, one Turkish” and that he had met Erdogan “out of respect for his family’s country”, but not to endorse his policies. Özil went on to criticise the fact that sponsors had dropped him in the wake of the row and that “certain German newspapers” had turned the Erdogan photo into “right-wing propaganda to further their political cause”. He reprinted a raft of revolting, racist insults directed at him in letters and emails, and specifically pointed at the head of the German FA for fuelling the pile-on. “In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose,” he wrote, noting that the politician had in the past said that Islamic culture had become “too ingrained” in many German cities. “Whilst I attempted to explain my heritage, ancestry and therefore reasoning behind the photo, he was far more interested in speaking about his own political views and belittling my opinion,” Özil added.

The player’s hurt was clearly compounded by the fact that neither the team nor the FA had publicly rallied around him and spoken out against his ill treatment by sections of the public. But that wasn’t quite the end of this sordid matter. Some of his Germany team-mates either didn’t read his lengthy statement, written in English, fully or wilfully misunderstood it. Toni Kroos, Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller all insisted Özil hadn’t encountered any racism within the team, when in fact Özil had never claimed such a thing.

Grindel left his post eight months later, in the wake of receiving an undeclared gift of an expensive watch. But by then, the damage was long done. Özil, the former poster boy for multiculturalism whose creative genius had been at the forefront of transforming the national team’s footballing identity, felt he could no longer represent the Black and White for fear of being made a scapegoat and a lightning rod for racist sentiments.

It’s hard to conceive of a more depressing end to anyone’s career, let alone his one. The then 29-year-old assist king had done more than most to make a new Germany, in both senses of the word, but sadly found that when reactionaries feel emboldened, even World Cup winners will be subjected to age-old prejudice.

Raphael Honigstein

Creator
There’s good reason for the Özil “assist” memes, given his creative stats in his time in the Premier League. He came as close as anyone has done in recent seasons to breaking Thierry Henry’s record of 20 assists in a season, and was Arsenal’s top assister in three of the last eight campaigns.

1_arsenal_assists.png


It is perhaps unsurprising then to see Özil near the top of the chance creation charts for the Premier League since 2013-14. Christian Eriksen just pips him overall — it had to be a Tottenham player, didn’t it? — but on a per 90 minutes basis, only Kevin De Bruyne’s figures surpass him out of the top 20.

5_ozil_assists-1.png


His vision and weight of pass meant he racked up chances created like no-one else at times. Even last season at Arsenal, in which he played just 39 per cent of available minutes under Emery, Freddie Ljungberg and Arteta, he was pipped only by Nicolas Pepe in terms of overall chances created.

2_ozil_chances-1.png


Much of Özil’s magic came from open play, threading disguised passes into the penalty area, or whipping in dangerous crosses after floating into a wide position. In fact, looking at individual player seasons, he features more than anyone else in the top 20 when it comes to creating chances in open play, with four of his first five seasons in the league making the cut.

His best season for assists, in which he notched 19 in 2015-16, was not even his best year for creating chances. That fell to 2017-18, which was the best single season for a creator up until last season, and is also under threat this year from Jack Grealish and Bruno Fernandes.

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Considering the chart below showing his assists and chances created per 90 minutes, it is obvious how linked Özil’s decline is to Arsenal’s post-Wenger era.

4_ozil_decline.png


Looking at Özil’s numbers from smarterscout, there is very little that changed in his game across these two periods. In terms of his actual attacking output in terms of xG from shot creation and ball progression — the former being his contributions to scoring, the latter being his contributions to repeatedly progressing the ball upfield — both dropped off after Wenger left having taken a hit in the Frenchman’s last season, in which Arsenal finished sixth.

Elsewhere though he was largely the same player he has always been. Özil always had something of an allergy to shooting, and on a per-touch basis — which is the number behind the smarterscout rating of 0-99 — he rarely looked to shoot. Most of his touches came with him linking play, interchanging passes when he floated out to the wings, or around the penalty area.

Defensively too, he never really shirked the label of being “lazy”. The smarterscout numbers below reflect that, for his position, he was well below average when it came to disrupting opposition moves.

6_ozil_style-1.png


What did change, though, was how the team around him looked to play. Özil thrived when he could play a largely free role, but he seemingly always had a presence in the centre of the pitch.

That is reflected in his touch map below, which shows the change in touches per 90 across the different areas of the pitch. In his best season at Arsenal, he was practically doubling his number of touches in the middle of the park and just outside the penalty area compared to his last season under Arteta and Emery.

To pass into the area consistently and create chances for your team-mates, you need to see a lot of the ball in attacking positions. Recent Arsenal sides have focused more of their play on the wings, to the detriment of Özil.

7_mesut_ozil_touch_map_2019-20_vs_2015-16-1.png


Özil was once one of the Premier League’s best attackers, and it is likely that he will stay around in some of these chance creating and assisting charts for quite some seasons to come.

His decline, though, is up for debate. Is he a player who now, at 32, is well past the peak of his powers, or is he one who in recent seasons hasn’t played in an environment that has previously matched his qualities so perfectly?

Tom Worville

Unravelling
The stats only show one side of how Wenger’s departure affected Özil. Following the Frenchman’s exit at the end of the 2017-18 season, following a 22-year love affair, the club had to prepare for the lasting effects that come with such drastic change.

Among those was the man-management of Özil. Admired by Wenger since his Werder Bremen days, the playmaker was very much “Arsène Wenger’s man” and it showed in the careful way he was handled.

“Özil is an artist who feels football through all the pores of his skin and soul. He needs to be constantly encouraged and he needs to feel close to his coach and have a relationship of trust with him,” Wenger admitted in his autobiography, Arsène Wenger: My Life in Red and White. “Being hard on him doesn’t work. Like all artists, he needs to feel supported in his creativity.”

That support oozed from Wenger. Aaron Ramsey admitting the German would get extra days off from training is an example that was received in differing ways. How the manager helped Özil and his family acclimatise to London — allowing them to stay with his own family the day of Özil’s debut vs Sunderland — offers a closer glimpse of the value of nurturing his new talent.


The German also had many friends — and still does — at the club. He once went on holiday with Danny Welbeck to Marrakech and retains the support of a close group of players, though that network is now starting to thin, with Shkodran Mustafi in the final six months of his contract and Kolasinac and Matteo Guendouzi both on loan, at Schalke and Hertha Berlin respectively.

Sven Mislintat, then the head of recruitment, was among those who were sceptical about Özil’s new contract but ultimately the Arsenal leadership — including Wenger, Gazidis and **** Law — gave it the green light. Director Josh Kroenke was at London Colney on the day it was signed, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arriving at Arsenal on the same day. Raul Sanllehi joined the club as head of football soon after; he is thought to have backed each coach in their selection decisions over Özil and attempted to facilitate a transfer for the German during his spell at Arsenal.

Özil’s creative support on the pitch also departed soon after Wenger. Within a year, Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla had moved on leaving a 30-year-old Özil as Arsenal’s sole playmaker. He was already experiencing turbulence under Emery.

Arriving at Arsenal after dealing with the high-profile stars of Paris Saint-Germain, Emery — who held talks about bringing Özil to PSG in January 2018 — was keen to make his mark early in north London. Along with all the other interviewees for the job at the time, which included current manager Arteta, he saw Özil as a key player and wanted him to be the leader of the team. This sentiment was echoed at senior level with Gazidis, then chief executive, making a speech ahead of the new campaign on the pre-season tour in Singapore. Özil was singled out for a special mention after his struggles with Germany at the World Cup that summer, with Gazidis welcoming back the No 10 to his true home.

At the heart of Emery’s new era was a desire for the intensity of work done by players, with and without possession, to be equal. With Özil seemingly not best suited to this approach, cracks began to emerge in August 2018.

On the day of a Premier League fixture at Chelsea, Özil is said to have been informed there was a possibility he might not be selected, as it was an away fixture requiring greater physicality and defensive resilience. The No 10 insisted he wanted to be involved, however, and the head coach was encouraged enough by this response to select him. But, substituted after 68 minutes, Özil cut a frustrated figure as he walked off the Stamford Bridge turf and was not involved in the following matchday squad against West Ham United, with the club stating he was ill. There was no mention of leaving the club at this point, but Özil’s impression was that Emery’s superiors wanted him out. Arsenal strongly deny this and say Özil’s selection has always been a technical consideration, and thus at the discretion of the coach.

Despite this, the German, having been included in the captains’ group, was given the armband on multiple occasions in the 2018-19 season — four consecutive times in the Premier League in October-November as Emery tried to rebuild an Özil-enthused Arsenal. Arguably his finest post-Wenger moment came when he led the side at home to Leicester City. Afterwards, with Özil featuring prominently in many national newspapers owing to his outstanding display, Emery allegedly told him not to get carried away with one performance. Özil, with his significant international and European experience, did not take the feedback well and in the next Premier League game at Crystal Palace, the skipper was substituted after 68 minutes, with Arsenal needing a winner, following a lacklustre display.

But the skill and guile did not seem to be enough. Asked why Özil was an unused substitute against Bournemouth a month later (below), Emery said: “We thought how we can be better in the match today, a very demanding match with physicality and intensity.

https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2021/01/23064805/Özil-Arsenal-Bournemouth-scaled.jpg

(Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
“In the beginning of the season, we were speaking every day about the need to be competitive. We need to be organised, we need the individual quality to improve our performance. It is the same today.”

Colleagues spoke of the pair rowing in Emery’s office, with Özil said to believe the head coach did not respect him enough.

In January 2019 Emery is said to have told Özil that perhaps it would be best for everyone if he were to leave. However, sources claim the hierarchy convinced him that an Özil exit would cause too much disruption in the middle of the season, so he backed down. The 2014 World Cup winner, for his part, decided to remain and fight for his place — a battle, at least initially, he won.

Özil was not helped by a succession of problematic pre-seasons. The fallout from the World Cup was followed in the summer of 2019 by Özil, his wife Amine and team-mate Kolasinac becoming the victims of a car-jacking attempt. Arsenal were supportive, allowing him to return to Germany and granting co-ordinated security. They hoped that, despite the nasty nature of the incident, that by giving him their backing a new positive relationship could develop. Özil was stoic throughout the ordeal, but security concerns forced him to miss the start of the season.

Nevertheless, he played and occasionally captained Arsenal in the early part of 2019-20, silencing the whole of Anfield before the away end exploded in astonishment with his assist for Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the 5-5 Carabao Cup draw in October 2019. He was still capable of magical moments.

Then came Özil’s comments on China’s persecution of the Uighur Muslim population in the north-west region of Xinjiang in December 2019. Özil spoke out strongly as it was believed the Chinese government had detained up to a million Uighurs, a mostly Muslim-Turkish ethnicity, in “re-education camps” and a programme of forced sterilisation against the women.

The UK had been among 23 countries to speak out against the Chinese government, which denied the mistreatment, but Özil was strident in his views. He said on Instagram: “East Turkistan, the bleeding wound of the Ummah, resisting against the persecutors trying to separate them from their religion. They burn their Qurans. They shut down their mosques. They ban their schools. They kill their holy men. The men are forced into camps and their families are forced to live with Chinese men. The women are forced to marry Chinese men. But Muslims are silent. They won’t make a noise. They have abandoned them. Don’t they know that giving consent for persecution is persecution itself?”

Arsenal distanced themselves from his comments, releasing a statement that read: “Regarding the comments made by Mesut Özil on social media, Arsenal must make a clear statement. The content published is Özil’s personal opinion. As a football club, Arsenal has always adhered to the principle of not involving itself in politics.”

By this time, Emery had been replaced and Freddie Ljungberg installed as interim manager. On the pitch, a similar pattern emerged in the post-Wenger era; there was to be less leeway for the squad as a whole — and Özil as a result.

When substituted for Emile Smith Rowe by Ljungberg against Manchester City in their final home match before Christmas, the playmaker kicked his gloves in frustration. Absent owing to injury in the following game against Everton, Ljungberg said he would have stuck by the decision even if he was fit.

https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2021/01/23065838/Özil-Arsenal-Manchester-City-scaled-e1611403180124.jpg

(Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)
“He walked off, took his things (gloves) and kicked them and the fans were not happy and when I was asked about it I said, ‘For me, at Arsenal, that’s not how we behave, that’s not what we do’ and I stand by that,” Ljungberg explained at Goodison Park.

“Mesut was injured but I would not have picked him for the squad (to play Everton) because I want to make a stance that that’s not what I accept from an Arsenal player.”

A new broom seemed to sweep through the club with Arteta’s appointment and Özil started all 10 of Arsenal’s Premier League games before the first lockdown. The new Spanish coach had identified Özil’s reintegration as a priority because he knew the talent he possessed, having been a former team-mate. Debate about his inclusion in the team rumbled on, though. Similar to under Emery, whether he was a player Arteta could rely upon to contribute to the pressing game was a common criticism.

In those 10 games, however, there was evidence he could, while still retaining his attacking edge. In the first half against Chelsea, for example, he was in total control and the freedom he enjoyed forced Frank Lampard into an early change, bringing on Jorginho to monitor him.

As time passed, however, those flashes of brilliance were less frequent. Although Arteta and Özil lived on the same road, the distance between them widened as the Spaniard’s reign continued. Their communication is said to have become increasingly limited since the pay dispute last year when the Arsenal squad — and Arteta himself — agreed a 12.5 per cent pay cut to help with the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Özil refused and later explained why.

“My position is clear,” the 32-year-old exclusively told The Athletic in August 2020. “I’m here through to the last day of our agreement.”

Özil was unhappy that Arteta got involved in the dispute. In his view, the Spaniard should not have participated — it was an issue between executive management and the team. They had been team-mates in the past and Özil felt Arteta, if anything, should have been on the players’ side.

Özil — who sources indicate has never had a formal disciplinary incident or fine at Arsenal — is said to have asked for written confirmation that nobody would get fired, but Arsenal were in a hurry to announce a cut. He did not believe player contracts should be changed without their representatives being consulted. The first time some of them were contacted on the issue was less than 24 hours before the announcement. Özil says he was potentially prepared to take a higher cut but he wanted assurances it would be used to support people at the club and not for other purposes. Instead, Özil and his team decided to use that money for a food project in London that continues to this day.

Arteta’s relationship with Özil had started to deteriorate before the pay dispute, with the club strongly denying that any off-field incidents would impact on team selection. Instead, a perceived lack of training intensity is said to have been the cause of his omission.

“I have given a lot to Arsenal, on and off the pitch, so the reaction was disappointing,” he told The Athletic on the subject of the pay cuts. “They said they don’t get involved in politics but this isn’t politics and they have got involved in other issues.

“As players, we all wanted to contribute, but we needed more information and many questions were unanswered.”

The fallout ensured that Özil entered the final year of his contract with the writing on the wall and his relationship fractured beyond most would have imagined under Wenger.

Deciding to leave Özil unregistered in the Premier League and Europa League proved to be the final straw.

Art de Roché and David Ornstein

Contrasts
A lyric from the song Arsenal fans chose for him all those years ago is more resonant today, in a way. “We’ve got Özil, Mesut Özil, I just don’t think you understand…”

Understanding Özil was never particularly straightforward because he has been such a singular player — so capable of effortless brilliance and yet evidently so difficult to use in a consistent and reliable way. In all of his seven and a half seasons at Arsenal, there is probably only one in which his efforts were more or less unquestioned.

Towards the final days of his time at the club when he was in exile, understanding it all was an exercise in frustration. How could a player able to hit such technical high notes find himself with the plug pulled?

He has become a divisive figure since the fallout with the club. His disciples fervently believe he has been wronged and will never accept the sense in leaving out such an experienced playmaker when the team could not create for toffee. Others were more sympathetic of Arteta’s preference to try to forge his own team without distraction and friction. He is a player who tends to provoke extreme feelings — whether supportive or critical.

How will Arsenal remember the Özil years? It is a collage of contrasting images: The moments of gaspingly great skill. The drooping shoulders in a game that passes him by. The assist addiction. The stardust. The quiet moments of prayer before kick-off. The millstone contract. The slow divorce that was horrible for all parties.

Even though he arrived as the perfect signing for the moment he left with a sense of wondering whether he was the right player for this team, this league, this age, or whether Arsenal was the right place for him. Özil had his way of playing whatever the circumstances. The gossamer touch needed space, the tempo sometimes made him look a genius and at others a languid lightweight.

He was a committed artist — flaws and all. Sometimes he could produce something with a stroke that was breathtakingly beautiful. Other times it was as if there was no paint on his brush.

One thing is certain — there are not many Mesut Özil types playing these days, not many in this increasingly athletic game whose style reflects wafting mavericks from a bygone age.

Now, for Arsenal, the curtain has fallen on the relationship that started with such a thrill and finished so icily. They have gone their separate ways. Time for everyone to move on.



As I suspected, Edu is an utter bastard.
 

GDeep™

League is very weak
Özil above Bergkamp, Van Persie and Pires? :lol:
Özil won more than RvP, took us more closer to the title than RvP ever did, had Giroud/Sanchez not left their scoring boots at home and missed every chance after January we would’ve won the title that year and Özil would probably had one of the best individual seasons in PL history. RvP was injured for huge lengths too.

I’ll give you Bergkamp. But not a lot to pick between Pires and Özil, just that one played in greater teams that allowed him to compete for big titles.
 

Breezy

Active Member
Özil won more than RvP, took us more closer to the title than RvP ever did, had Giroud/Sanchez not left their scoring boots at home and missed every chance after January we would’ve won the title that year and Özil would probably had one of the best individual seasons in PL history. RvP was injured for huge lengths too.

I’ll give you Bergkamp. But not a lot to pick between Pires and Özil, just that one played in greater greater teams that allowed him to compete for big titles.

All three piss all over Özil in terms of attacking input.

We never got close to winning the title with Özil, despite him playing in arguably better sides than RVP.

You’re talking rubbish.
 

GDeep™

League is very weak
Özil had 1 in 2 games, goals/assists for Arsenal, again that’s crazy. His CL record, overall, is same too.

The Athletic also saying he’s never been fined or had a disciplinary problem at Arsenal.
 

Macho

In search of Pure Profit 💸
Dusted 🔻

Country: England
As I suspected, Edu is an utter bastard.
What bit are you referring to? forgive me it's a long article.

I hear he was amicable and straight forward in negotiations at least. I'd like to know why they left it so late to tell Özil he wasn't part of the squad.
 

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