Arsenal in search of more quality players to fill Ozil’s vacuum
Arsenal agents have commenced a search to hire more players who will fill the vacuum created by Mesut Ozil’s departure from the club.
Ozil’s stay at Arsenal finally ended after Mikel Arteta didn’t use him at all this season (with off-pitch issues playing as much a role as on-pitch considerations). The World Cup winner joined the Gunners from Real Madrid in the summer of 2013 and made 254 appearances for them across all competitions, amassing 44 goals and 71 assists.
Ozil won five trophies during his stay in North London- five FA Cups and the Community Shield in 2015.
His most notable individual accolade with Arsenal was being the top assist provider during 2015/16- the second-most ever in a single season of the Premier League.
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Ozil’s last match with Arsenal came back in March 2020 in a league fixture against West Ham. He provided the assist for the only goal of the game from Alexandre Lacazette. This season, Mikel Arteta surprisingly did not pick Ozil for a single game.
The 32-year-old becomes the sixth footballer from Germany to play for Fenerbahce, the most notable out of the others being former goalkeeper Harald Schumacher.
Odegaard who is on the brink of being his short-term replacement has featured in only nine matches for Real Madrid this season, five of those being starts.
Ozil needed a move away from Arsenal in order to get any game time and Fenerbahce seems a club where he should receive a fair amount of that. He is certainly up there with the likes of Roberto Carlos and Robin van Persie as one of the Turkish club’s most high profile signings.
The Yellow Canaries are currently third in the Super Lig table, five points behind leaders Besiktas who have played a game more than them. Ozil’s addition can help the team not only from a footballing point of view but also from a coaching standpoint as he could be a mentor to the younger players in the team.
Fenerbahce fans will undoubtedly be willing to see their new signing in action and there’s a good chance of him making his debut against Rizespor on Saturday.
Arsenal lacked the presence of a creative midfielder in their team and Odegaard seems a suitable option. The Norwegian may have been underused by Zinedine Zidane this season but had a very good loan spell at Real Sociedad in 2019/20.
In 36 appearances across all competitions, Odegaard scored seven goals and made nine assists as the Basque club finished sixth in the La Liga table, qualifying for the Europa League.
It will be interesting to see how Arteta uses the 22-year-old and there’s a very good chance of him getting a good amount of game time under the Spaniard if he does well in training and in his initial couple of forays on the pitch. Odegaard could use this period to enhance his chances of getting more playing time when he returns to Real Madrid.