Why Ozil's Arsenal Transfer is Pivotal

Editing and Graphics By Conor Rees 

So it all came down to the last day of the transfer window. Arsenal had just come off a satisfying 1-0 win over a high spending Tottenham team and were keen to add to the squad, something the media, the fans and even the players have been begging Arsene Wenger and Ivan Gazidis to do all summer. With unflattering purchases of 2 free players in Sanogo and Flamini and Gazidis’ comments that the club were willing to spend, the club became a laughing stock with no big names arriving at Arsenal.  Then suddenly the club were in talks with Özil. I felt like I was dreaming and wanted someone to slap me to see if I was awake or not. After many hours of constantly refreshing Twitter, the Arsenal website and watching Sky Sports News, it was confirmed in the final minutes of the transfer window; he was an Arsenal player.  

        

At the time of writing, it still hasn’t sunk in that the club not only has signed what Jose Mourinho calls one of the best Number 10s in the world, but the club spending so much money on a single player. I’ve seen him modelling the kit but the amazement that he’s coming to play for my club fills me with excitement like a fat kid being offered a massive chocolate cake covered in Smarties and Mars bars. I’m now even feeling negative towards the upcoming internationals because I just want to see him play in an Arsenal shirt and watch him ping balls across the pitch like an explosion at a ping pong ball factory.

The stats are there to prove how fantastic and significant of a signing he is. Over his last 3 years for Real Madrid and Germany, he has managed to set up 94 goals and score 41 in 209 games which works out to being involved in a goal every 0.65 games or 1 in 2 games if you want to keep it simple. Compare Özil to former Arsenal player Cesc Fabregas and he assisted 49 goals over the same time period and that outlines how much of a great signing Özil is for Arsenal and stats like that just make me wonder how stupid you would have to be to let someone as pivotal and intelligent as Özil leave Real Madrid. Sure Gareth Bale came to the club and someone had to be sold to lighten the blow of spending £86 million, but it feels like such a bad mistake on Madrid’s part and is Arsenal’s gain. So cheers for that Perez, I’m toasting my can of cider to you.

With Özil as a Number 10, you can expect goals and lots of them. On Sunday against Tottenham, the front three of Giroud, Walcott and Cazorla were all making intelligent runs that needed an equally intelligent pass to complete the move. The thought of Özil being able to pass the ball with ease excites me so much and to think I was excited about Santi Cazorla’s arrival. His general presence will increase the team’s value and will surely increase our goal tally over the season as the fight for the Champions League places becomes increasingly harder and harder with Tottenham and Liverpool bringing in decent players over the transfer window.

Bringing Özil to the club sets a benchmark of what players Arsenal can attract over the coming years. If players like Özil are happy to come to the club, then fellow world class players are surely going to be interested in joining Arsenal. Along with that, spending £42.5 million shows the financial muscle that the club can flex and shows the club are now able to spend at will on world class players and now grow stronger and stronger and end that frequently mentioned trophy drought. The time of paying the Emirates stadium debt is nearing at its end and now Arsenal can push on and challenge for titles and cups and it’s something Özil can help the club towards.

During Mike Trevelyan's post looking at the transfer window, he wrote about the purchase of Mesut Özil in which he said “the signing of Ozil might drive the Gunners into securing that 4th place finish and keep other teams such as North London rivals Spurs, and Liverpool at bay.” Maybe it’s the Arsenal bias and the buzz of signing him but finishing fourth is the bare minimum now. A signing of his weight not only makes finishing in the Top 4 a certain possibility, but could cause Arsenal to have an outside chance of the title. I could eat on those words, but who knows. If Arsenal have a strong start to the season, the injury Gods are kind on the team and Arsenal are within 8 points of top spot, Arsene may spend on one or two players in the January transfer window, there’s a chance we could be in the running this year. Or at least get a trophy.

Finally!!!

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