Mesut Ozil – His Return to Strength

Mesut Ozil signed for Arsenal for £42m on deadline day in the summer of 2013. He became the second most expensive player in Premier League football – before Manchester United signed Angel di Maria for £59.7m – and he broke Arsenal’s transfer record.

Since joining Arsenal, he has been largely inconsistent and has struggled with injuries. Ozil has scored twelve and assisted eighteen goals in seventy-one appearances for the Gunners however has yet to set the league alight with his overzealous style and technique that he dazzled Real Madrid fans with when playing for Spain.

Ozil made his mark in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and was nominated as one of the ten players in the run-in for the Golden Ball award. He assisted three goals in Germany’s pursuit of the World Cup and his left-footed half-volley against Ghana in the group stages was voted amongst the best goals of the tournament. Through his performances for Germany, he began to draw interest from many top European clubs including Real Madrid who prior to Germany exiting the World Cup, signed him for €15m.

During his time at Real Madrid, he proved himself to be one of Europe’s hottest properties creating sixty goals in three seasons. Ozil is an agile, creative attacking midfielder with great technique, vision and control. Ozil’s vision allows him to split defences and create space for attackers with his deadly through-balls. Many football experts have likened him to Zidane, a playmaker with unparalleled footballing ability.

Ozil’s struggle to settle into English football however has left him behind many of the world’s best footballers currently and he’s no longer producing the magic he did at Real Madrid. Critics have pointed out that his physical game is not good enough and in big games he’s been almost non-existent and failed to perform. Although, a sudden return from a knee injury after three months out saw Ozil return to strength again. And since, Ozil has displayed the same form he was in when at Real Madrid. Ozil played as few as twenty-one Premier League games in 2014/15 due to injury but his improvement in physical strength has revived his Arsenal career.

It’s important for Arsenal to now use Mesut Ozil to his strengths and create a team around him, Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla. For Ozil to stand-out more, Arsenal must sign a quick striker who will make those intelligent runs on the end of Mesut Ozil’s devastating through-balls. This could not only improve Ozil as a player but could also see Arsenal return as a force in England once again as Mesut Ozil has all the right criteria to become the best player in the Premier League.