Mesut Ozil is the man on form for Arsenal at present, and Arsene Wenger is adamant that the German is keen to stay.
The Gunners boss claims that the former Real Madrid star is keen on extending his stay in North London, but is yet to agree terms.
“No, I believe he wants to stay. He is not to be convinced.”
Wenger then added when asked if there is a need to hold further contract discussions: “Let us do that and let’s not talk about it.”
The French boss was then asked if Ozil would be more of a loss to the squad than Alexis, to which he replied: “I wouldn’t like to compare.
“You want nobody to leave and see where we stand on that. But at the moment, it’s very difficult. Until the end of the season we know what he is, but after that I cannot tell you.”
Ozil is certainly playing his heart out for our club at present, while the 28 year-old Chilean continues to struggle to find form.
The German has always stressed that he is happy in North London, and it certainly seems as though Ozil would be the only one that we could possibly persuade to stay beyond his current contract.
There is talk of interest from Barcelona and Manchester United, but there has continually been speculation about a possible deal to stay with Arsenal.
Is Ozil showing his willingness to stay on the pitch, or is he fighting for a move elsewhere?
Pat J
That or maybe he is playing to make a point that besides being an arsenal player he is still good enough for the likes of barca or manure.
You know how you make the likes of him stay at the club? By showing a bit of ambition. Good luck to the old fart. If we go out in january and try to do something then who knows, but judging from our summer activites, O.o should pack his bags and move on.
On one hand, I think Ozil is putting himself in the shop window, because why stay at Arsenal?Although there’s no way we’ll sell him mid-season, foreign clubs can actually sign him up come January 1st, ahead of a free transfer in the summer. On the flip side, I can see why he’d want to stay. He likes London, he’ll get a huge pay raise (not deserving in my view), and he’s guaranteed to never be on the bench, and rarely even get substituted, as long as Wenger’s manager. If he signs a new contract, he essentially has a free ride under Wenger, and that’s never a good idea, and has proven so with so many players, time, and time again!
I’ll acknowledge that Ozil has made big improvements of late, individually, and for the team, but I still think it’ll be a big mistake to give him around 250/300k p/w.
I’d love for Ozil to stay but I have doubts he will which is a real shame. He’s a joy to watch and he’s been playing with more determination as of late. I’m interested to see how Mislintat gets on with his recruitment this January and in the Summer transfer period. With the stat based recruiting we’ve seen in the recent past a very specific type of player has come into the squad, and I’m interested to see what profile of player he targets moving forward. I think Arsenal is prime for a shake up in terms of personnel and I am very interested to see how the new look front office goes about it.
Virtually the same article as 6 hours earlier.
If he was going to sign for us he would have done months ago when we started offering him over £300k a week. Wenger just likes to try to fool the fans in to pretending our situation is better than it is. Nobody in football believes him anymore. Face facts it is the worst kept secret that Ozil is going to Manchester, as is Sanchez, whether we like it or not. Lets move on to the future.
I think Ozil will stay until summer at least. Then he ll play in Russia and then be free as a bird to chose. If he makes a mark on the WC he would leave Arsenal, if not he ll stay for the next 3-4 years cos I dnt think he is still full of ambition. He won everything already. And we are perfect club for his retirement, although I think he is too good to be at Arsenal if Wenger stays and Ramsey became a captain.
To avoid disappointment, I’m just going to assume both Alexis and Ozil are going.
Sign two of these players as replacements:
Greizmann, Lemar, Draxler, Isco, Rodriguez, Dybala
Probably won’t happen though
Earlier I was more concerned about alexis staying but seeing the recent run of form and commitment,I guess give ozil whatever he wants and he stays. Just offer alexis a descent new contract one last time-if he takes it than fine otherwise let him leave….
Personally I would like Ozil to be released. Arsenal needs a more hard working attacking midfield than the one Ozil leads. As good as he is and contributes to our fluidity, he is equally culpable for our midfield being easily subdued when put under pressure. Ozil does not do enough when we’re not with the ball which is a killer when playing in the EPL. He does not contribute enough to retrieving the ball or blocking the opposition from moving towards our goal. Let no one tell me that one mythical “powerful DM” is responsible for stopping the opposition. That’s a fallacy. If you watch Guardiola’s teams you would realise that their greatest strength is not passing but how they quickly close down the opposition when without the ball – marking. Iniesta marks in Barcelona but here at Arsenal fans believe Ozil should only “create” chances. That’s another fallacy. I don’t see Ozil fitting into either Barcelona or Manchester United. Both teams want their midfielders to mark, which Ozil hardly does.