Rio Ferdinand says he would definitely take Mesut Özil at Manchester United on a free transfer at the end of the season.

Mesut has been linked with United consistently in recent weeks. Despite the 3-1 loss to the Red Devils on Saturday, Özil had a very good game for the Gunners, and was unlucky not to be on the winning side. For much of the match, Arsenal looked to give Mesut the ball to make things happen, even if they couldn’t convert the opportunities he created.

But before all that, Ferdinand already seemed convinced about the German’s qualities, as he told BT Sport ahead of the match, “Since he signed in the Premier League he (Özil) has had the most assists and chances created in the entire division so that tells you the standard of player he is.

“I played against him when he was at Real Madrid and he was different player from what I’ve seen here. He is deceptively quick and if you can get that out of him, with the technical ability he has, then I would take him at Man United as a free transfer all day, no doubt.”

Mesut has created 4.18 chances per 90 minutes this campaign so far. Only his 2015/16 season can beat that, at 4.27. By comparison, his other three seasons at Arsenal didn’t even reached 3.50 chances per 90.

It’s a similar story when you look back at Özil’s Real Madrid days. Despite managing 13 assists in his final league season in Spain, Mesut still wasn’t creating as much as he is this year. Ferdinand’s comments about the German not being the same player he was in Madrid don’t seem to stand up to scrutiny.

Considering Özil created just two fewer chances than Manchester United in total on Saturday, I’d have to agree with Rio that they could use him.

With six months left on Mesut’s current Arsenal deal, the Gunners will have to move fast if they want to keep him.