Many questions still hang over Arsenal, but Mesut Ozil's new contract answers a big one and halts their slide
The German playmaker is set to stay with the club, a welcome boost for a club at a crossroads
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It was around mid-December that Arsene Wenger received an early Christmas gift. That was when the Arsenal manager first got proper indication that Mesut Ozil would likely sign a new deal after so much doubt and speculation about his future.
The Wednesday morning news that is set to finally and definitively put pen to paper is meanwhile at least some encouragement for the club as a whole, in what had been a difficult time, after another deflating Premier League result.
And while there might be fair questions over what that context then says about Ozil’s ambition and all of the rest of it, the first point is that his decision offers a vindication of the London club’s plans. Their biggest star is willing to stay and offer his prime, as Arsenal begin to properly plan for the eventual post-Wenger era.
That cannot be underestimated.
It is also not just a case of Ozil being bereft of better offers, as many might be tempted to think.
Manchester United were willing to go in strong for him, and Jose Mourinho had a specific tactical role in mind for him. That thinking did evolve once they got his former teammate Alexis Sanchez, despite the temporary horror prospect for Arsenal that both of their best players could have ended up at one of their biggest rivals, under a manager they have had most difficulty with. The signing of the Chilean meant Mourinho’s tactical plans for the team changed, especially as he had envisioned Ozil occasionally playing wide as at Madrid, and ensured United felt less of a need to pay the £325,000 weekly wages the German would have wanted - not to mention all the add-ons. The feeling was Juan Mata can still do a lot of the same work, and there is also the fact that the cheery Spaniard is seen as good for the squad mood, not to mention from a commercial and PR perspective.
Ozil has always been one of Arsenal’s main commercial sells, only adding to his value, but there is more importantly his concrete work on the actual pitch.
This is why this renewal has even more importance for Wenger’s side, and could be particularly key. This is not a player who has phoned it in as his contract winds down.
It is the opposite. He has ramped it up. Everyone at Arsenal’s London Colney training ground has been hugely impressed with Ozil’s industry and intensity over the last few months, and how he has really upped his productivity, right down to those who had previously got frustrated with his self-indulgence.
Even those figures - who could occasionally grumble about how the German playmaker would needlessly screw a pass to put spin on it rather than just play it - greatly liked him, though, and he has always been a popular figure. They are just pleased with such a pick-up that they always wanted.
Ozil's commitment to both the club and the team, in that sense, has been manifold.
As barely needs to be said, it is also seen as a real contrast to Sanchez. Many at Arsenal felt that the Chilean was playing up the the whole frustrated genius act, only giving the motions of maximum effort but not the actual effects.
That is far from the case with Ozil, whose intensity of pressing has even been noted.
Then again, it’s also the case that Ozil has a much better relationship with Wenger. While Sanchez’s was purely employment-based, there is a genuine warmth between the manager and Ozil. They have shared chats about the game that Wenger hasn’t had with many of his players.
The Arsenal boss has of course been frustrated with Ozil’s occasional failure to translate his obvious talent into end product, but that is why he is now even more pleased.
There are other elements to this, too, like the fact that the 29-year-old just loves his life in London.
There are also other elements to consider with his new contract, mind.
Most of those revolve around the other very relevant reality of Arsenal’s form. If it continues as troublesomely inconsistent as this, any of those questions about Ozil’s decision being down to a lack of ambition will gain a lot of credence. There are also fair questions about the planning behind this new era, given that it is a squad now so stocked in certain positions - why sign Henrikh Mkhitaryan if you have Ozil, why sign Alex Lacazette if you could get Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang? - but so painfully short in others, like central defence and defensive midfield.
The club is at a crossroads, even if they’ve been standing over it for some years now.
Their best player at least now isn’t at such a crossroads. That is one problem solved.
And the most relevant reality is that Arsenal stand a much better chance of progress with Ozil in the team, rather than moved on to one of their rivals.
The gift that keeps on giving assists.
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