Arsenal: 6 months of Mesut Ozil better than 6 years of Arda Turan

Barcelona have reportedly offered Arda Turan as a swap for Mesut Ozil. But six months of Ozil is far more beneficial, for Arsenal, than even six years of the Turk.

Champions League qualification is everything in the modern game. The competition overshadows any other, in terms of the profile it boasts, the money it produces, and the following that is glued to it wherever it goes. The quality of the football is higher, especially in the knockout stages, the drama is greater, and the anthem is the epitome of a footballing spectacle.

Every player wants to play in it, every manager wants to manage in it, every fan wants to watch their team in it, and every club wants to be in it. But not all can, as Arsenal, for the first time under Arsene Wenger, discovered this season.

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After finishing outside the top four, a feat that they had not slipped to in over two decades, the Gunners found themselves toiling through the Thursday-Sunday schedule of the Europa League, a competition that, in terms of prestige, popularity, and entertainment value, is little more than the younger sibling to its majestic European counterpart.

It is in this context that Arsenal, and Wenger, have a rather important decision to make regarding the future of two of their more influential and important players. Both Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez are free to walk out the Emirates door at the end of the season. They can choose where they go; they are utterly free from the constraints of a contract. And Arsenal will receive nothing in return. That has led to some rumours of last-minute panic, in which the club are scuttling around to try and recoup any last scraps of value for either player.

And the latest report to surface, which is a somewhat trying one to believe, surrounds Ozil, his potential Barcelona move, and an unhappy Turk who has been linked with a move to North London for some time.

It claims that Barcelona are offering Arda Turan, their unsettled and unused attacker, as a swap for Ozil. Obviously, all things being equal, these are not players of the same calibre and quality. It’s not even close. But because Barca can claim that Ozil will be available to them on a free in just a few short months, they have the power to drive down the price. That price, that they have driven it down to, is Arda Turan.

The reason why I started this piece talking about the greatness, and the importance and the impact, of the Champions League, is because it should directly influence the decision that Wenger makes regarding the future of Ozil, and Sanchez, for that matter. Arsenal need to ensure that they give themselves the best chance to qualify for next season’s Champions League, even if that means allowing two truly elite players to leave on a free when the year is done.

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You could have, in fact, put almost any experienced, solid-if-not-spectacular, proven-if-not-unprecedented attacking player in the place of Turan, and I would still think it is a bad deal. The best way for Arsenal to move forward from Ozil and Sanchez is not to cut bait now because of fears of receiving nothing. They must accept that fate, ensure their place in the Champions League, and then use the summer to buy young and gifted. Turan should not be a part of that plan.

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