This is Ozil’s last birthday at Arsenal?

This is Ozil’s last birthday at Arsenal?

Last Tuesday, Mesut Oezil has just officially turned 31. The lack of trust in the Unai Emery Dynasty has raised a big question: Could this be the last birthday of the German player at the Emirates Stadium?

Since his first professional match in 2006 against Schalke, the German midfielder has become one of the best in the continent. Ozil’s number of chances created is 1,070, only less than Dimtri Payet (1,084) among the players playing in the top 5 leagues in Europe including England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

In the same 13 years, the midfielder just turned 31 created 130 assists after 373 appearances, with 52 of them taking place when he wore Arsenal. Only Payet is a better player than the German player. Despite those statistics, Oezil has often been the focus of criticism, from the time he was playing for Germany to the desire to fight at the club level. Having moved to Arsenal since 2013, Oezil has yet to conquer the Gunners fans.

Rumors about Oezil leaving Arsenal are not new. The pitch of the midfielder decreased in the last 4 seasons. In the 2015-16 season, he played 35 times, then the next seasons were 32 seasons 2016-17, 24 seasons 2017-18 and the previous season was only 20. Things have been worse since the beginning of this season. Despite being voted into the group of 5 leaders of Arsenal, Oezil only played a mere 71 minutes in the main kick, 2-2 draw against Watford. Left, he only added more opportunities in the 5-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in the League Cup last month.

Arsenal technical director Raul Sanllehi, despite avoiding criticizing Ozil, had to admit that Emery coach prioritized the choice of players who worked hard on the training ground, which Oezil has never shown: There are many good players. Actually there aren’t any problems with Ozil and I hope to see him appear more often in the next matches. But he needs to contribute more, something that Emery always wanted, Emery coach can not give Oezil special treatment compared to other Arsenal players.