Arsenal has to prioritise the sale of Mesut Ozil next summer.
Arsenal is in an important stage of their evolution at the moment, the club will want to give Mikel Arteta a good number of years at the helm and avoid a hire and fire sequence.
There have been marked improvements under our former captain and hopefully, it will only get better as he continues as the manager.
I believe that changes at Arsenal have to be wholesome with no stone left unturned.
While those changes will take some time, I feel that we have to start with player recruitment and contract renewals.
For a start, Arsenal should try and do everything in their power to offload Mesut Ozil.
This is because the German’s salary as a low-performing player continues to have a huge impact on the renewal of deals and signing of new players.
Players like Pierre Emerick Aubameyang surely must think if Ozil can earn so much he should command the same amount or even more.
Getting Ozil off our wage bill would avoid players using his monstrous weekly wage as a reference.
It will be hard for Arsenal to get rid of him with the German openly claiming that he intends to see out his current deal at the Emirates. There is not exactly a queue of clubs looking to take him and his wage on. Wonder why that is.
However, Arsenal can force him out on loan by subsidising his current salary or use him as a sweetener in a swap deal.
Ozil will continue to divide opinion among Arsenal fans and the longer he stays at the club he will remain a distraction.
If Arsenal wants to be able to negotiate reasonable contracts with certain players then having Ozil hovering in the background simply undermines those negotiations.
Why would players far more productive than the German accept wages below what he receives?
The sooner he goes the better it will be for Arsenal in the long run.