Mesut Ozil will remain at Arsenal, at least until the summer, despite Arsenal’s attempts to move him on during this window.
Arsenal are trying to bring in Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan but because they have no money, and Inter Milan want a lot of money, they are trying to come up with another solution.
Swap deals rarely happen in football but that could be about to change as we enter a new era of players running down their contracts. Perhaps Arsenal are still giddy over their Henrikh Mkhitaryan-Alexis Sanchez swap last January as they seemingly want to let Inter have Mesut Ozil, a player worth much more than Perisic but whom Unai Emery doesn’t want in his squad for reasons known only to himself, to land the Croatian.
After signing a mega contract just last January, Arsenal were always going to have a major problem should they want to sell the German. All reports, from Spain, Italy and elsewhere, claim that Ozil’s wages are indeed causing Inter Milan a problem with the Italians only willing to pay around 50% of his £350kpw.
None of it matters as Ozil’s representatives told Turkish-Football that the player is going nowhere in this window.
If Unai Emery rated Mesut Ozil then he would play him, but Arsene Wenger says if you don’t like Ozil, you don’t like football, so what’s the problem?
With Mesut Ozil, nothing, it seems, is straightforward. When he’s injured people are convinced he’s in a huff or been dropped and when he’s fit, he’s dropped anyway despite Arsenal struggling to create without him in the side.
So what’s going on?
Well, Get French Football News had some ideas after watching Emery at PSG with Neymar and the big names there:
By the end of his tenure at PSG, Emery was reportedly a laughing stock in the dressing room – he succeeded in ruining captain Silva's confidence, Neymar no longer listened to him, Dani Alves was bemused by his treatment of Ben Arfa, Ben Arfa had an all out war with him… (2/4)
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) January 14, 2019
Arsène Wenger = very public about the special treatment that Özil sought, regularly asking for time off & he obliged because it was the best way to make the German happy. When Neymar asked the same of Emery, the Spaniard was firm, but constantly rebuffed by higher-ups.
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) January 14, 2019
For more context, details of the Emery x Ben Arfa feud in this thread from last year. https://t.co/hQSoG4pebC
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) January 14, 2019
It is clear that all is not well and Arsenal have painted themselves into something of a corner. If they wanted to move Ozil on they’ve made that near impossible without taking a massive hit on his transfer fee thanks to the astronomical wages they agreed to get him to stay in the first place.
If they don’t want to sell him then they are doing their best to break one of the most mercurial talents on the planet who, at 30-years-old, is unlikely to become anything other than what he is.
Whatever your opinion on Ozil – and everybody has one – he arrived at Arsenal at a time when world class stars were not even giving us a second glance. He’s played more games for Arsenal than any other side, scored 40% of his career goals with us and created 73 goals for teammates who have been profligate in front of goal, denting his stats.
You might not like his body language and think he hides in games he should dominate, but you cannot argue there is a better creative player at the club.
To refuse to play him when he’s fit, especially when the team show no marked improvement in his absence, is a stubbornness that could cause Emery very real problems down the road.
