Only lack of time finding a replacement stopped Arsenal offloading Mesut Ozil

Mesut Ozil could have left Arsenal last month but the club reluctantly blocked the deal.

It is being reported that Mesut Ozil was on the verge of leaving the Emirates last month but due to lack of time finding a replacement, Arsenal had little choice but to turn the offer down.

The Daily Mirror is claiming that an unnamed club from Qatar came in and was prepared to take on the Germans huge wage. It is further being reported that Ozil was prepared to leave and Arsenal was also on board.

However, because the offer came in on deadline day it left the Gunners almost no time to find a suitable replacement.

There were players that Arsenal did consider as a replacement for the 30-year-old, Dani Olmo and Yannick Carrasco, however, the timing of the offer for Ozil was so late in the day that those two players had already found alternative clubs.

Now, it has to be noted that this has come from the Mirror, hardly the most truthful tabloid out there and so one has to take all this with a pinch of salt.

But I have to say it would have made sense. Qatar has the money to foot Ozil’s wage and they are actively seeking to attract high profile players before the 2022 world cup, it is a country that would suit the playmaker and at the same time while Arsenal would probably welcome the player’s departure they would need a replacement.

If this is true it does tell me one thing, Ozil could easily be jettisoned in the summer. You have to think that the Qatari’s would maintain their interest in such a high profile player, especially a Muslim one and the chances are very high that Arsenal would still be keen on seeing him gone.

31 Comments

  1. I doubt it to be true, I think all would have jumped at the offer of Ozil moving on. He has been good under Arteta but still easily replaceable imo.

    Moving ozil woulda meant more game time for the likes of Martinelli, Willock and others

    1. What IF it was true?
      A player nearer the end of his career than the beginning
      Huge salary that could be matched by Qatar and all the other reasons mentioned in the article
      You would have to ask why the ‘offer’ was made on deadline day. A bit fishy to me

  2. They must be thinking he may be leaving be leaving in the summer, but I guess they were willing to pay him his £350,000 a week till then. To carry him to the end of his contract would be mutchos stupid. I think they should have got him off our books. It seems it was Arteta’s superiors who laid down the law. If we would have freed that cash up we would be looking at three signings in the summer window. We now have the danger of this financial drain for longer than we need. We should have sold him. Stupid.

  3. I think pepe will do better in ozil’s role as pepe lack the pace for the wings but can certainly cause problems to opponents in the midfield behind the striker.

  4. So, the board are ‘tight’… we have no money to spend… yet we’re paying Ozil, yes that player who contributes ‘nothing’ that obscene amount of money each week… surely we’d ‘offload’ him at any given opportunity? I keep reading on here that there are plenty of others who could take his place, play better and contribute more, a lot more…. my take on it? A load of codswallop…

    1. Sue, I had read an article along the same lines as Viju below, that stated Mikel Arteta wouldn’t sanction the deal, as he wanted to keep the player – perhaps that might be added to give more balance to the story?

      My view though Sue is that, if we are to back MA, no matter what he decides, then that is the bottom line….if he wants to keep Ozil or sell him, then he will get my support.

      It seems that those who want the player out, are not prepared to accept that, at this moment in time, MA sees him as an integral part of his plans, has stated it more than once and his actions have once again confirmed that position.

      No matter how many media articles or wishful thinking happens, we either back MA or we don’t – that’s what “supporting” actually means isn’t it?
      It’s been said that no player is bigger than the club (quite correct of course) and it follows that no fan is bigger than the coach/manager.

      1. Absolutely, Ken… MA has my backing.. whatever happens with any player, I’ll still support. I’m an Arsenal fan, Ozil just happens to be a player I like.
        At the end of the day it’s come from the Mirror! Says it all really…
        As he’s said, Arteta rates him, which is good enough for me.. and how true your last sentence is, Ken 👍

        1. @Ken 1845- with Soures now in the squad, MA is able to include AMN as a CM to add to Ceballos, Willock, Pepe ( as @Best suggests in an earlier thread on this headline ) Lacazette ( as Got no Idea often states as an inverted Left Footed but Right Dribble down the leg false nine as Firmino plays at Liverpool in a 433 with a high press tough tackling over-lapping full back line up ).
          And who will be playing today? Mesut Ozil.Who the manager insists is vital to the team.Are we ,the few, the only ones who seem to agree with the Manager? So if we are wrong in their eyes then so must the Manager be wrong also.
          Also I notice no reply from Jon to my earlier question.He likely to be writing a review of the latest production of Knees Up Mother Brown at the Clacton Empire but will eagerly await his reply, which as we both know won’t be coming.

      2. Oh please make this rumour true! I will accept waiting til summer(since we have no choice anyway) if it means we AT LONG LAST jettison this lazy man who has no fight , no will to win and no honour on thr pitch at all. If he had honour, he would work hard, as all players are contracted to do, but he does not! And KEN, none of us know either way what MA wants. I do not question him any more than neither does any other GOONER, a si now seems. But the signs are firmly that our club has wanted this lazy man out for ages but cannot force him to leave. I firmly believe MA WANTS HIM GONE, SINCE HE NO LONGER ASSISTS,NO LONGER SCORES AND HAS HARDLY EVER WORKED HARD ENOUGH. You will never accept the plain truth and all realists on here who read your regular OZIL posts are well aware of that.

        1. Jon-I’m hoping the board listen to your comments and sack Mikel Arteta immediately.How dare a Manager of our Club insist on playing a player who “is lazy, has no fight, no will to win, and no honour “.
          And pick him he will.
          Why is that do you feel?

          1. Phil, do you get where my “no fan is bigger than the club” is coming from?”

            Everyone is wrong who doesn’t agree – even Mikel Arteta – says it all doesn’t it.

      3. For clarity, The Mirror is the original source of this and so therefore, any publication that deviates from what the Mirror wrote is putting their own spin on it. Of course, that can be applied to this article, however, I tried to stay true to the original article and this is what the Mirror actually wrote.

        It is understood that Ozil would have been willing to listen – and so too would Mikel Arteta with a suitor willing to foot the 31-year-old playmaker’s hefty wage.
        But the timing of the proposed switch left the Gunners with little time to source any source of replacement.
        New Arsenal chief Arteta was likely to have pressed the button and given the move the go-ahead.
        However, coming as it did at the 11th hour meant that the former midfielder would have been unable to set the ball rolling with a couple of his main targets.

        So, it would have been wrong to have included someone elses interpretation that Mikel Arteta blocked the move and wanted to keep the player because that is not what was said in the original source article.

        I would respectfully suggest that on occasions you click on the link and read the original article before calling for balance based on another article that misinterpreted the original source article.

        1. Martin, for some reason I cannot click and read the mirror article, so can I ask if they quoted the two players who had found new clubs that we were interested in?

          Also and this is a genuine question martin, how does one arrive ar what is the original article, because, as you are aware, there are more than two versions of this story going around and it seems viju and myself read one of these rather than the mirror?

          I have no problem with the article martin, thanks for the reply and my questions are for information purposes and nothing else, along with my further questions below.

          1. I have also read other articles, for example, The Daily Star and they link to the Mirror article as well. This is what the Mirror article said about the two players in question.

            However, coming as it did at the 11th hour meant that the former midfielder would have been unable to set the ball rolling with a couple of his main targets.
            RB Leipzig’s Dani Olmo was on his shortlist before his move to Germany.
            So too was Yannick Carrasco from Dalian Yifang, before the Belgian was snapped up on loan by former club Atletico Madrid instead.

            Be assured Ken, if the Mirror article had said that Arteta was against it I would have posted that, it is no skin off my nose what anyone else thinks or what is published. I have a job to do regardless of whether I agree with an article or not and that is to write about Arsenal news.

            If there is no link in an article and my name is on that article then that is my personal opinion and I have no objections to anyone putting an alternative opinion out in response but when I write an article based on another publication and it contains a link then I have to be faithful to that or quite frankly, I will lose my job.

            The headline correctly reflected the article and so did the narrative of the article in question and I left no personal opinion in the article other than to say if it was true then the likelihood of him being sold in the summer is high.

            I also do note that you are not questioning my integrity here and that you are purely seeking clarification of what is being written.

  5. What I also find weird, is the comment that The Arsenal considered two players who had already found alternative clubs were considered – how does that make any sense whatsoever?

    Along with the headline to the article – only lack of time…after all, if The Arsenal had been trying to offload the player since UE first arrived (as it has been claimed) this unnamed club would have known about much longer than the last day of the transfer window wouldn’t they?

    Still, I stand by my view that whatever MA does is fine by me.

    1. I’ve learnt not to comment on some of the articles. One of the Admins have made it clear that it’s more of a “commercial” consideration to flood the site with garbage articles regardless how ridiculous the rumor is. So, it’s all about clickbait than whether the story has merit.

      1. Arteta is slowly digging his own grave by starting Ozil and Xhaka. Can anyone tell me how many games did Arsenal win and lose when Ozil and Xhaka are in the same starting line-up

      2. @Impenia-even taking AdMartins well published dislike of all things Mesut Ozil, he had every reason to note this headline in my opinion. IF, the story is to be believed, and it is still a big IF, then opinions are obviously sought. He is still our most high profile player as well as being the most divisive.
        I am starting to feel that MO10 may not be here next season. A great of £30m and £18m per season off the wage bill will give the manager the funds to bring in his own player to replace Ozil.Its obvious that he will not be offered a new contract and the club will be negligent allowing him to run the existing one down and leaving on a free. We are a business and the Club MUST look at what is best for AFC and NOT Mesut Ozil.The player has been allowed to hold all the aces so if he decides he is staying there is little Raul and Edu can do. And as much as I love MO10 as a footballer the day he is to leave is likely to be sooner than later.
        @ Ken 1845- of course I agree.No fan is bigger than the Club.No player is bigger than the Club.But it is the Managers job to pick the team to win all games we play and MA seems to pick Ozil despite the so called majority saying he is wrong. Sort of says it all really don’t you feel?

        1. Phil, agree 100% and and isn’t that what the vast majority have been saying all along?

          Why employ MA if one questions his decisions?

        2. Well said Phil. Let’s be clear, I’m not an Ozil fan. Those wages are quite high, but that’s only because we didn’t need to pay any transfer fees. I’m sure the club is looking at the best way to handle the Ozil situation, especially with the Manager publicly showing faith in him. Until he is moved on, it’s just plain nonsense to keep questioning the Manager’s decisions. Arteta is smart and ruthless enough to make the right decisions. UE eventually dropped Ozil for many games but hoe did thst turn out?

  6. Anyone who says Ozil is good under Arteta, what major contribution has he done? These are the guys who delay the progress of Arsenal, including Xhaka

    1. Top Gunner, so you must include MA in that list, as he has been selcting him since he became coach?

      After all, there are enough first team players to choose from and, as Phil said earlier, why select a player who is làzy, has no fight, no will to win and no honour?

      Have we employed a coach who is going to delay our progress, or why don’t we just rely on his professional judgement?

  7. It would not surprise me to see a grain of truth in the story. These stories are often ballooned truth but not quite as it is made out to be. I think if Arsenal were approached on the last day by a qatary group, then it would be rebuffed. The truth is clubs in America, China and maybe Qatar are the only way Ozil is going to go. If they are interested, i dont see Ozil being interested while his contract has run out, Why should he? He has won the lottery and living it up in the best Capital city in the world. We cant force Ozil out and we cant force people to buy him but i am sure the moment an offer that comes in, if it does, that “suits” both parties, he will be gone. The truth is as well, at this moment in time, with no money in the coffers to replace, Ozil is the only option we have in his position, even though he isn’t producing.

      1. No admin neither do i, it was a destination where ozil could have ended up with the stupid money they spend on players over the hill. But no i doubt he will be gracing the fields of China.

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