Arsenal: Mardy Mesut Ozil needs to get over himself

Mesut Ozil is reportedly not speaking to Arsenal’s chief contract negotiator, Dick Law. The mardy midfielder needs to get over himself.

Modern footballers are prima donnas. It is a great shame of the game, that players are able to dictate to clubs their enormous pay packets, what position they want to play in, whether they want to turn up to training or not and how hard they work when they get there. Arsenal, like every other top football club, have to manage this.

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That is why Arsene Wenger has prioritised the character of those players that he brings to North London. Not only are they quality players that improve the team on the pitch, but they are also stand-up men off of it, characters of integrity and hard work.

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He prioritises such qualities such that he is able to cultivate a harmonious and collective dressing room. Wenger is extremely focused on managing a team, not just a collection of individual players. He expects each member to contribute to the whole, not merely looking after their own intentions, but working their hardest for the best of one another and the team overall.

Imagine the frustration, then, that he must be feeling with Mesut Ozil and his contract rebellion. While it is Ozil’s prerogative to maximise his pay – he is perfectly within his rights to reject any offer the club makes based on a variety of different reasons. However, where he is not so justified is when he demands eye-watering wages that are wholly out-of-whack with the standard of his recent performances, and then do so without discussing terms with Arsenal’s chief negotiator Dick Law, as the most recent reports suggest.

Ozil was signed for a club-record £42 million, in the hope that he would drive the Gunners forward. Although it is unreasonable to expect him to perform at his best consistently all on his own, without any support from his teammates and the tactics of the team, his levels of performance have been far below his price tag demands.

And amid such anonymous displays, Ozil has the cheek to not only demand significant wages, but do so without entering into talks the way the club usually runs negotiations. It is utterly ridiculous that Ozil thinks he is a player of such importance and stature that he can treat the club with complete disrespect.

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He needs to look in the mirror, get over himself and buck his ideas up.