Arsenal: Mesut Ozil breakthrough challenges perspectives

Arsenal have made a huge breakthrough in their contract talks with Mesut Ozil, challenging the perspective that this would be a testing summer for Arsene Wenger after a controversial new two-year deal was agreed upon to end last season.

After another underwhelming season during which Arsenal’s title challenged had ended by February, the Champions League provided only more humiliation, again at the hands of a ruthless Bayern Munich, and finishing in the top four was beyond them for the first in over two decades, there was a certain degree of animosity between the club and the fans.

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Many had, justifiably, grown tired of the corporate, fake, twisted and contorted statements of the board, forever promising the world and delivering far less. Arsene Wenger, though, in an act of defiance, agreed to a new two-year deal that garnered vociferous reception.

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Much of the critique centred on his mismanagement of the club’s transfer dealings, both in terms of recruitment and retention. Fans felt that he failed to match their ambition with a lack of spending and then wasted the talent that he had acquired by allowing their contracts to run down to a point of utter powerlessness.

On both counts, Wenger is guilty. However, so far this summer, he has proceeded to challenge such a perspective. Firstly, he acted quickly and with conviction, securing the free-agent addition of Sead Kolasinac with several other clubs interested. Then, he broke the club’s record transfer fee by signing Alexandre Lacazette, a player who addresses a key need at the striker position. And now, he could be set to make the first huge breakthrough with the raft of contract controversies that must be settled.

Per a report in The Daily Mail, Arsenal are close to re-signing Mesut Ozil to a new deal, with the two parties allegedly agreeing on a £280,000-a-week contract. It was initially thought that Ozil was holding out for north of £300,000-a-week but has since dropped his demands thanks to a lack of interest from outside clubs.

The news, though, is extremely welcome, and coming in the aftermath of Ozil publicly declaring his desire to stay in North London, suggests that a deal will be successfully thrashed out in the coming days.

If that does indeed happen, then it challenges the perspective that many had of Wenger and the club entering the summer. The general consensus was that this would be an extremely testing time, with additions made difficult because of the lack of Champions League football, and departures likely thanks to contract mismanagement.

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However, this new counters such thoughts, and perhaps suggests that this can still be a successful window for the Gunners. More signings must still be made; more contracts must still be agreed to. But Ozil’s impending new deal suggests that Wenger is succeeding in improving the state of this football club.