Every time a side delivers unexpectedly, its credit is given to the top performers and often few of them are leveled in line with the all-time greatest of the side and this is something that seems to be happening with Arsenal who has been in tremendous form this year. They are second to Man City on the board and equal in points and their permanence is powered by the key role played by Mesut Ozil who has made an emphatic return to his form with a consistence performance throughout the season. The way he is playing these days, manager Arsene Wenger has started taking him as next legendary player in the making especially after looking at his partnership with Alexis Sanchez and he believes if he continues this tuning with 27-year-old Chilean in Sunday’s North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur, they can surly top the table for the first time in many years.
Knowingly, Ozil contract is expiring in 2018, after having a five-year deal when he switched from Real Madrid in 2013, hence Wenger wants him to sign a new contract but as far 28-year-old German is concerned, he has still not given his Nod for the same and manager’s current appraisal could just be an attempt to convince the midfielder to sign the extension. He clearly says Ozil can only become a club legend if he commits his long-term future to the club in the same way Dennis Bergkamp did. He said, “Dennis Bergkamp committed for a long period. He played until the age of 38 at Arsenal Football Club … To become a legend at the club you need to stay for a long time. If he stayed two years he would not be a legend.
“A player needs to meet his needs inside the club and where he lives. He’s certainly happy in London, it’s difficult not to be happy in London. But I believe the happiness a player has when he plays in a football team comes out by his performances. And I hope he’s happy. I think the main transformation we got from him is he makes more runs in behind to score goals. I think today he understands that he can have his qualities but as well he can be at the end of things because the timing of his runs is good.
“In training I noticed that he is a very good finisher, so when you have that in your locker you have to try to get it out … On top of that he has a fantastic attribute for a guy who is a good finisher: he is calm. And you notice that all the finishers are killers. That means they keep their nerve in front of goal, and he has that.”
Mesut Ozil: Mitch Gunn / Shutterstock.com