On Sunday, Mesut Özil reached 50 Premier League assists with his set-piece delivery for Shkodran Mustafi, but how does that rank among the club’s best ever creative players?

By now you’ve probably heard that Özil reached that 50 league assists landmark quicker than anyone in the competition’s history. The German has long been known as the assist king in Europe, and he’s lived up to that title well in North London.

Let’s look at how far he needs to go to reach the club’s record total, by evaluating the current top five:

5Robin van Persie (45)

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 05: Robin van Persie of Arsenal celebrates scoring their third goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Norwich City at the Emirates Stadium on May 5, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
Robin van Persie (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Not exactly the most popular figure on this list, but eight seasons with Arsenal helped the Dutchman to fifth place in the standings.

In total he managed 53 Premier League assists, but the last eight were after his move to rivals Manchester United.

The striker was better known for his goalscoring, but an average of between five and six assists a season didn’t do anything to hurt his reputation.

The only problem was that Arsenal became reliant on his output, and his many injuries amplified that issue.

Özil passed the Dutchman’s total in November.

Stats:

  • First Arsenal assist: For Jose Antonio Reyes vs Middlesbrough in a 2-1 defeat.
  • Final Arsenal assist: For Laurent Koscielny vs West Brom in a 3-2 win.
  • Best assist tally: 10 (2008/09)
  • Assists per game: 0.23
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