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:
1Dennis Bergkamp (94)
At the top of the Arsenal list, Dennis Bergkamp has the fifth most Premier League assists of all time, only behind Ryan Giggs, Cesc Fabregas, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard.
He spent 11 years with the club before eventually retiring after the stadium move.
Now, he has a statue standing outside the ground.
Bergkamp’s vision was unrivalled, and Thierry Henry said it best back in 2006, stating: “For me, I have always said Dennis Bergkamp will remain the best partner I have ever had – he is a dream for a striker.”
Özil certainly has his work cut out to ever reach the Dutchman’s total, he’d probably also have to stay until retirement to manage it. You never know though.
Stats:
- First Arsenal assist: For Ian Wright vs Everton in a 2-0 win.
- Final Arsenal assist: For Robert Pires vs West Bromwich Albion in a 3-1 win.
- Best assist tally: 13 (1998/99)
- Assists per game: 0.30