Much-maligned Ozil shouldn't depart Arsenal with reputation in tatters

January 2018 was an indifferent month for Arsenal fans. On the 24th, a week before the winter transfer window closed, Alexis Sanchez left for Premier League rivals Manchester United, a deal that would see Henrikh Mkhitaryan move the other way to the Emirates Stadium. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would link up with Mkhitaryan in London with the hope of recapturing the spark that made the dynamic duo one of the most feared in Germany, but, to some, the biggest deal was to convince Mesut Ozil to sign a new contract with the Gunners. 

In the process, Ozil became the highest paid player in the club's history, earning a cool £350,000 a week as he signed a three-and-a-half year deal. Next summer, that deal expires. At the time of writing, there have been no talks to extend his spell in north London and, rather than lose him on a free next summer, Arsenal would prefer to cash in on the 31-year-old. It's a similar case for Aubameyang. 

Yet while Aubameyang will likely leave a club hero - only Mohamed Salah (51) has scored more Premier League goals than the Gabon international (49) since he made top-flight debut - Ozil's status has taken a hit among the Arsenal faithful over the last two years. 

This of course coincided with managerial uncertainty on the back of Arsene Wenger's decision to call time on his career with the north London side. Unai Emery succeeded the Frenchman at the Emirates helm and made it clear from the outset that Ozil was not part of his plans.

Indeed, in December 2019, shortly after his sacking, Emery admitted: "There are games in which you see Mesut’s brilliance, linking with the attack. But also I had to find players around him so he felt comfortable. Also the team needed to feel solid. And when you, little by little, have to build a team that is aggressive, intense, as well as structured for good pressure, we also had to find a space for Mesut.

"Ozil is a very important player if you can find a way to make it work with other players. He has talent that allows other players to be better, but when you want a bit more aggressive pressure he does not have the best qualities for that."

As such, Emery started Ozil just 24 times up until his November 2019 dismissal as the 48-year-old struggled to find a system that suited Ozil, and the decision not to use the playmaker had the desired effect for the manager with Arsenal's win ratio rising to 55.6% without Ozil starting from 41.7% when he did feature from the off. That may have lessened Arsenal's creativity, with their average of 9.6 key passes per game the eighth best in the Premier League under Emery, yet that is hardly a surprise in a Gunners side without a clear identity with the Spaniard at the helm.

However, the appointment of Mikel Arteta in December prompted a change in fortunes for Ozil, at least in terms of playing time. Indeed, he is just one of three Gunners players to start every league match Arteta has overseen, along with goalkeeper Bernd Leno and centre-back David Luiz. 

That being said, discussions over a new deal have been non-existant. A switch to Turkey has been mooted, with Fenerbahce eyeing up a move for the 2014 World Cup winner, and even with a extended run in the side, a summer exit remains likely. Much of that is due to the lacklustre performances compared to his usual high standards coupled with the need to trim the wage bill. 

Even so, Ozil remains Arsenal's most creative player. Since the start of 2018/19, Ozil has made more more key passes (82) than any other Gunners player, despite registering less than a season's worth of minutes of game time (3189). Since his debut season in 2013/14, only Christian Eriksen (571) has made more key passes than Ozil (559), though the latter made 42 fewer appearances than the former in that period, while a Premier League WhoScored rating of 7.26 is the fourth best of all Arsenal players.

That shouldn't come as too much of a shock given one in five of the total goalscoring chances Arsenal have created since 2013/14 have come through Ozil, and over double the number their second most creative player has returned since the start of that season (Alexis Sanchez, with 272). 

In that time, Ozil ranks fifth for clear-cut chances created (65) and fourth for assists (54), two figures that would have been higher with more playing time over the last two seasons. The primary issue is whether the last two years will damage his standing among supporters beyond repair despite his impressive showings in the opening five in the capital. 

2015/16 was the peak of Ozil's time at the club, where he scored six, yet registered a whopping 19 league assists as the partnership between himself and Olivier Giroud caught the eye, with seven of the German's assists coming for the Frenchman to score. However, Ozil remains a hugely divisive figure in the Arsenal fanbase, where loyalties to the player have quickly faded in recent months. Even in starting all 10 league matches with Arteta at the helm, his performances haven't necessarily improved as noted in a fairly underwhelming WhoScored rating of 6.74. 

Arteta, though, hasn't had a prolonged period to work with the players on the back of his December appointment and the displays were never going to immediately improve at a club that needs ample work to restore it to its former glory. And while Ozil's form has plateaued over the last 18 months, he remains Arsenal's most creative player, even accounting for the lack of regular Premier League game time since the start of 2018/19. 

If he does, as expected, leave this summer, then he should do with his stature intact rather than with his reputation in tatters. For a period, Ozil was one of the most feared players in Europe, but the extortionate wages has become a stick with which to beat him, and so too has the lack of Premier League assists; four, since the start of last season, to be exact. However, as the key pass return shows, that is down to his teammates' profligacy rather than Ozil's inability to create goalscoring chances. 

Either way, the last two seasons shouldn't taint his initial five at the club, where Ozil was exceptional and a key player for the north London side and when he does depart Arsenal; it's only fair that he be best remembered as one of the Premier League's finest creators over the last decade rather than a scapegoat in a sub-par Arsenal outfit.