by Lee Hurley

You’ve all seen the meme – what ‘normal’ people see and what Mesut Ozil sees, they are two very different things.

Speaking to Arsenal.com this week, the midfield maestro has tried to explain what goes on in his head when he’s picking a pass.

“Sometimes I see passes and other players might be surprised and wonder how I saw it,” he told Arsenal Player. “My aim is to have that surprise effect on the pitch and find gaps that only very few players can.

“When you have that surprise instinct on the pitch, it’s tough for the opposition to stop the passes.

“It’s important to have that and it’s why I sometimes see spaces to pass into, because I’ve already thought about where my team-mates could run and how I can make the most of that millisecond, think a tick faster than the opposition and find the gap.

“A while ago I was on Instagram and saw that a fan had made a graphic showing what other players see and what I see. I found that really interesting.

“I think the things that I sometimes see come from an instinct and you can’t really learn that, though you can work hard at passing. I spontaneously decide on what I’m going to do and maybe see spaces that other players don’t.”

There’s no doubting that he is certainly capable of surprising not only his opponents but also his own teammates, but as he spends more time working with them and they get to know his crazy, genius ways, we are seeing what a deadly weapon Ozil truly is.

After the second half of the season when he returned from the knee injury that kept him out for three months, people outside Arsenal really got to see just what he’s capable of.

Hopefully that means next season those same people will be able to speak about him without also being compelled to mention his price tag.

We can but dream, eh?