Would Arsenal fans be bothered if we sold Ozil to Barcelona?

Although all the focus this summer seems to have been about Alexis Sanchez not signing a new contract with Arsenal, but there are others like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil who are in exactly the same position. We know Gibbs has had some talks with other teams, and the Ox appears to have decided to not sign a new contract for the moment, and now Ozil is being linked with a bid from Barcelona if they fail to persuade Liverpool to sell them Coutinho.

As far as I’m concerned, Arsenal’s pre season games and the recent Emirates Cup have shown that Ozil has not improved from his dismal hot and cold performances from last season. He still seems ineffectual and seems to disappear as the game progresses. But it’s still early, and hopefully our midfield magician can get back to his best with a few competitive premier league games under his belt.

But just say Barca did turn up with a money-spinning offer for the German, would Arsenal benefit from losing Ozil and gaining a midfielder with more impact, or would we be less creative in unlocking defences ?

Would Arsenal be the better for swapping Ozil for Rakatic and Rafhina or use that money to lure the likes of Isco or Pjanic to the Emirates? Perhaps selling Ozil instead of being held ransom for exorbitant wages which he does not justify would serve as an example to the rest that nobody is indispensable or bigger than the club?

Ozil can be truly magnificent when playing at his best and to his strengths so perhaps with Lacazette he might be able to become the assist king once again, but would Arsenal fan be really bothered if we let him go?

Anonymous

49 Comments

  1. No news on Lemar transfer?

    its week after week since someone claim its done deal

    We are not even close and Lemar played for PSG

    1. I know
      I’m very worried
      Also Wenger said the last two weeks of the window will be busy which worries me too

      If they want £60 million then pay it

      I think you meant Monaco lol

      1. I told everyone last week that the Lemar deal looks very unlikely and got thumbed down. It seems there are too many obstacles in the way. Slim chance that it actually goes ahead. id love to be probed wrong though

    2. PSG? .. What they signed Lemar? ???? you obviously meant he played against PSG. ?

    3. So many deals were claimed as “done” by supposed insiders and never happened. Assume if it has not been announced it is not done. The claim that we have to wait for Monaco to find a replacement means there is no guarantee the deal will be done IMO. What if they don’t find the replacement or can not agree on a price? or change their minds after selling Mbappe?

      The longer you leave a deal undone the more likely it will never happen.

  2. I am fine with it as long as we get somebody better. But with Wenger there is no guarantee. He never replaced Viera. He replaced Van Persie with Giroud

    We also don’t have a better Central Attacking Midfielder

    Be very careful what you wish for

    1. Giroud was not even supposed to be a replacement for RVP. So as far as I am concerned RVP was never replaced.

    2. “He never replaced Viera. He replaced Van Persie” Yeah, because replacing two of the best players to have ever played for Arsenal, on a shoe-string budget, no less, is easy to do, isn’t it? But, sure, blame Wenger, because he is just a foolish old man that doesn’t have a clue what he is doing!

  3. If it happens, it would be great for both Ozil and Arsenal. He cannot improve Arsenal and he can revive his career in Barcelona.

    Arsenal should not care whether he goes or not, instead they should get players that can improve Arsenal as soon as possible, such as Jean Seri and Rafinha. They also have to be brave by benching players that do not perform well, regardless the price tag of the players.

    1. “He cannot improve Arsenal” You mean apart from completing a season with the joint top assists to have ever been recorded in the history of the PL? Yeah, what a terrible player.

    2. Are you seriously implying that Seri and Rafinha are better than Ozil?
      Pls let’s show some respect!

  4. Like so many others currently at Arsenal, Ozil has only had one great season out of four. Ramsey has had one in nine, Walcott, two out of eleven, and so on…

    We need more consistent players, but we’ll have to wait another two years (possibly longer), to see these changes implemented.

  5. Never happen .

    No one in the world is crazy enough go pay just 300 grand a week
    For someone that inconsistent and who doesn’t fight…except arsenal

    I’d take rakitic straight swap
    Ranfinha plus 20 mill

    Sigh . Oh well

  6. It’s hilarious how no club was linked or interested in Ozil and out of nowhere he could end up being sold to Barcelona.

    I read that Wenger is struggling to sell the fringe players because of high wage demands, It seems as if he wants to sell before making anymore purchases, maybe that’s why the Lemar pursuit has been put on hold?

    So does that mean that the rumoured War chest (£150 million) was a load of old you know what?

    1. Wenger’s socialist wage structure have forked us once again.

      Come to Arsenal where all the worlds carljenkinsons and debuchys can earn nice 50 to 70k a week, same as the other fringe players such as Koscielny and Mustafi!

      1. Socialist???
        Lacazette £52 million
        Ozil £42 million
        Xhaka £35 million
        Mustafi £32 million
        Alexis £32 million
        I don’t see Wenger or Kroenke adhering to the principles of democratically controlling means of production or social ownership lol

        No Premier League team or manager is socialist

        Wenger has a HUGE salary. He spends loads of money (last season £100 million)

        Socialism is mainly an economic and political term. Maybe you were thinking of a different word

        I think Wenger hasn’t got a clue how to build a Premier league winning team but he is hardly a socialist

        1. “Socialist Wage Structure” not “Socialist Transfer Policy”!
          Arsenal pay most of their 1st team squad players a wage which is more dependent upon their longevity rather than their ability.(Gibbs is reportedly earning upwards of £50k per week)This means that in total their wages bill is not too far behind those of United,City and Chelsea and significantly more than both Spurs and Liverpool.
          This obviously means that it becomes difficult to sell peripheral players on to teams more suited to their ability given their prevailing wages.Why would Jenkinson,Ospina,Gibbs,Debuchy wish to leave if they can earn more money remaining at Arsenal.

          1. Exactly! Fringe players at Arsenal rake in so much money they would rather be rooted onto the bench the whole season rather than move to another team and play games…e.g Gibbs, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Walcott.

  7. Ozil is a luxury that Arsenal really can’t afford.The only time he tends to shine is when the whole team is playing to the best of their ability…which is…as we know…not often enough.This being the case it would benefit the team to sell him to Barcelona for the reported £50million and bring someone else in instead.Such a player would undoubtedly have less talent but in all liklihood would be able to perform on a more consistent basis.
    That said the same could also be said of Ramsey who also consistently “flatters to deceive”.Arsenal’s Midfield is a complete mess at the moment.The Ox has presumably had enough;Coquelin frankly isn’t good enough although is currently the only combative midfielder that the Club has in its ranks; Elneny is nothing more than a “squad player”;Wilshire has regressed over the course of 3 injury ravaged years and Cazorla is unlikely to play at the same level again following on from his current injury crisis….
    Left in its current state Arsenal will struggle to compete for the League once again but I’m sure that the deluded Manager will come up with an excuse soon enough…

  8. lacazette,
    ozil,
    sanchez,
    carzorla,
    kolasinac,
    Kos,
    Cech
    are all exceptional internationals –
    I expect we’re adding to quality
    rather than letting any go away.
    *COYG announce lemar, seri

  9. Maybe thats just what we need…wenger wil not pick out ramsey for the first team, so, sell ozil, put ramsey in acm position and watch if he can reproduces his gales form…then we can buy sery, goretzka or another great cm (i dont think rakitic would be the answer, overreated player). The problem is, ozil is one of our recognized players, sell him will not help to retain the ox or alexis…we would need lemar to fight with ramsey in acm and another creative player with eye of goal if alexis goes

  10. Ozil to me is a difficult case. Many players and managers consider him world class. He and Sanchez are the only 2 true world class players we have unless you count Petr C because he certainly was world class when he was in his prime. Having world class players adds to the stature of the club and ours is diminishing so selling won’t help in that respect.

    However for a supposed world class player Ozil disappoints a lot IMO.

  11. Just SMH at some of the comments. Sell, sell, sell… So if we lose both Sanchez, and Ozil who do we have left? Iwobi and Wilshere in their places? Ozil is our second best player. I’ve already accepted that Alexis is leaving, I’m not sure I want to lose Ozil as well.

  12. The thing with Ozil is that he hasn’t changed as much as people tend to believe. The way he plays is exactly the same way as he has ever played, that’s his style. The problem is our playing style and the players we have is not suited for him. I always had doubts ever since when we signed him from Real Madrid because I’ve watched his games before and I remember thinking he’s not the type to dominate the midfield and we alsoalhave do not have the type of players for him to thread passes through such as Ronaldo, Bale or Benzema. He’s by no means a poor playing as he has his own strengths but either we adapt the whole team to suit his style or we get a midfielder that can player with the rest of the starting 11 and I think perhaps it’s more realistic and cheaper option to do the later. So if we do manage to get a good replacement in that area then I’d say sell him, at a fair price of course.

    1. You are correct, Ozil always plays like that. The players like him because he is a very unselfish player and has great eyes to see chances, but he cannot help Arsenal dominate the midfield area.

      Arsenal needs midfielders like Messi, Iniesta and Xavi to control the games. Arsenal’s current midfielders tend to play safe in the field.

  13. the Sun= Arsenal’s move for Monaco star Thomas Lemar put on hold with Arsene Wenger struggling to offload a host of flops
    Jack Wilshere, David Ospina, Kieran Gibbs, Carl Jenkinson, Lucas Perez, Calum Chambers and Mathieu Debuchy may all need to leave the club in order for a deal to go through

    Yea wonderful msg we are sending, i thought we had war chest of 150 million what happen to the 100 million? left? after buying Lacazetta, hope its just sun tabloid crap,

  14. I really would be quite happy if it was true, but unfortunately, i can not get my hopes up.

    Our Ozil would be considered a big name by most teams, but his fame does not support the way he plays the game. What would have been expected would have been a high energy, goal threat, assist master, who thrives off pressure, but what arsenal have been accustom to over the past years from Ozil are, breaks under pressure, lack energetic drives, not much of a goal threat and slow down plays constantly.

    Some would say i am being harsh, but its the truth, Ozil basically got a mention, base on some journalist thinking of the most accessible targets for Barcelona if Neymar goes, not even considering the wide gap in the difference between the players.

    We can just face the facts that no team will want Ozil if he is scouted properly, likely scenario Ozil runs his contract, goes back to Turkey or Germany to finish his career. Anything else and i would be in a shock.

  15. I think we’d be a stronger team with Ozil gone, you need every player to be competitive, particularly in the EPL and he just doesn’t do it often enough. However, I think the club has left it too late, we should have done this earlier in the window and sucked it up. There would probably be repercussions as our intention to challenge for titles would be questioned but I think the only way to tackle the situation is to be strong with the players. I’d have given Ozil and Ox an ultimatum a month ago, sign or leave and made it public that they were available. I think the strategy to hold onto Alexis could pay off but that’s not happening if we can’t off load or re-sign the others. But I don’t expect Wenger to be that bullish, this is a guy that’s been quite happy to continue with Walcott year after year and give the guy superstar wages for a few decent games a season. Just watch the crowd turn on Ozil when he turns in a couple of poor performances, Ox too for that matter.

  16. Do you think Barca would want Ozil? Looking at his performance in the last match against Seville I am not sure about that.But if they want him , better sell him .He is not worth 275k per week.
    We can buy someone younger and cheaper to replace him.

  17. No way sorry ozil just needs good players around him like any good team. We lost player after player last season reason we are not in champions league. We need a CB and DM end of and it’s not going to happen without them. Just look at United and city they see what they need then buy it. We have only paid for 1 player that’s it. Go spend 150 mill on what we need. And why TL? Others out there. Then free up space by letting players go. They want near 14 mill for LP? He only played a few games so just get your money back thwarts been offered. JW KG MD and so on just cut yr lost. CC keep him coz he had a good season just passed

    1. But, if he’s a good player, in his own right. He should be able to to excel regardless, despite who’s around him.

      The evidence shows that he doesn’t, he coasts through games and, as someone above has already mentioned only comes into his own if, on the day, the whole teams has hit a purple patch.You can praise him for his assists but a player of his supposed calibre should be doing more than providing the odd assist.

      On the note that someone mentioned that Ozil needs to be in a better team with better players around him(as far as I’m concerned) reinforces my point of how ineffectual he really is. At Real Madrid, with so many better players around him, doing much of the graft and craft. Ozil’s inabilities went pretty much unnoticed as someone else in the team was always picking up the slack on his behalf. In short, he became a luxury that they could afford, a crowd pleaser in a galacticos full of crowd pleaser’s.

      I don’t think there’d be any significant loss if Arsenal were to sell him. In fact, could be more of a financial gain as we wouldn’t need to pay his inflated wage, plus we’d be getting a fair amount of cash for him.

  18. Kelechi Iheanacho is to have a medical at Leicester on Tuesday ahead of a £25m transfer from Man City, Sky sources understand. Now they secured his services, I hope they can let us have Mahrez for 40m.

  19. If Barca are willing to give us Rakitic and Rafhina in exchange I think we might actually improve the team performance. Rakitic and Rafhina are hard working creative players with an eye for goal who aren’t afraid of putting in the hard work , they can take a tackle and put in tackles when needed. Too often Ozil has ghosted through games being totally ineffectual. If we can sell him and get Isco from Real Madrid that would be even better .

  20. I remember Wimbledon a few years ago. Nobody world class in the team but players who had spirit and a fierce determination not to lose. They would fight everybody to the death every week. Ozil is no good for us.

  21. lets be realistic here…
    IF we sell Oil, does anyone actually think Wenger will go out and buy a world class replacement, if you do, your deluded.

    If we sell Oil, we will either go shopping in the ‘bargain basement’, or stay with what we have, based on wengers previous transfer window performances…

      1. Lol..actually you guys are right. Van persie, Nasri and Fabregas were never really replaced..and those who took their places Giroud and Arteta were of lower quality.

  22. Wow, another amazing show of support for one of our most best and most influential players. You don’t see other supports berate one of their best players. You lot should be ashamed. Get behind the players and manager or shut up. What do you possibly hope to achieve by being so negative towards our players? Seriously, don’t just downvote this comment, I would like a genuine answer.

    1. The genuine answer is that we are tired of supposedly “world class” players on Arsenal wages performing like westbrom quality players.We are also tired of consistently underachieving with a manager who appears fire-proof. In general, we are just tired, at least most of us, with the way our club is run and the nasty direction it has been heading in the last decade.

    2. If Ozil was so influential, where was that influence and brilliance that we all know he possesses in abundance when we played Bayern Munich , Tottenham , Sevilla on Sunday or even freaking Watford . I love his vision and the skill his has but too often he has little impact on our games . Yes he works hard , people say he looks like a passenger in games but that’s his languid style but the truly world class players would have influenced or presence in games even if they are being dominated by superior teams.

      1. I am somewhat surprised that so many of you think Ozil is expected to create chances out of thin air. The only attacker in our team that gave him some kind of movement was Sanchez and Ozil gave him plenty of passes that ended up in the net. Now we have Lacazette and that will give even more possible passes for Ozil. So without a doubt he end up in the region 10-18 assists this coming season. He is lazy in the defending aspect but so is many great players.
        Plz don’t forget we r not in the CL and replacements in the same ballpark as Ozil and Sanchez will demand wages that r unrealistic for our club. Even if both of them go for free next summer we will be able to replace them because we r back in the CL. Without them top 4 is next to impossible.

        (English is not my First language, so be kind)

  23. s my observation and understanding ozil as it is said is a skilful player but he lacks afighting spirit,stamina or endurance ,that we see on Sanchez.With the modern type of games in which even a striker come back and press on opponent defender and midfielder letting the opponent loose the ball ,going back fast attacking, always on movement ,making themselves un marked and creating a chance for goal with a big fighting spirit.But ozil doesn’t look like doing this,that is what makes the difference between him and Sanchez,which makes Sanchez to be wanted by big clubs but ozil not ,so it is possible for him to work (train) hard and be a fighter like Sanchez.otherwise Arsenal be the better for swapping Ozil for Rakatic and Rafhina or use that money to lure the likes of Isco or Pjanic to the Emirates

  24. Ozil is an excellent player when he has a captain like viera behind and a striker like Ronald in front of him. He really excels in that situation. so he’s not ideal for arsenal but he’s is worth every penny for Barca with its MSN strike force. So what I suggest is sell him ASAP and bag that £53 million and buy Isco and Goretzka. Together they are long time replacement for Ozil and Santi. Good for the future.

  25. I smile to myself when people say Ozil needs top players around him, so for him to be considered a top player he needs top players around, something he can not show on his own

  26. You dont have many good player around, mostly all are average. Only ozil,sanches and peter chech are really good and intelligent or world class player. if you take out any of this players arsenal will be very average. You dont win anything with and average players. So why need to sell them. Add in more good players and sell those very poor one.What the point having hard working, robust player but stupid and alway get injured. Might as well you get players from bottom or mid table like stoke or hull for instant. All play like bull but no brain. Rest those good player when they had an off day and bring them back when they are ready. Soccer is all about beauty and intelligent.

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