Arsenal: New Mesut Ozil contract the perfect lift needed

After Arsenal’s humiliating 3-1 loss to Swansea City on Tuesday night, Mesut Ozil reportedly signing a new three-year deal is the perfect lift that was needed.

Arsenal were shocking in their 3-1 loss to Swansea City. And that is being kind. As a result, the general feeling around the club and amidst the fanbase is a familiar one: rage turning to dejection turning to disinterest turning to distance. A lift is needed.

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So, it’s a good job that, as the January transfer window deadline day commences, one of the most hectic days in the footballing calendar, there was some rather good news coming out of the organisation: Mesut Ozil is set to sign a new three-year extension.

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The report, on this Wednesday morning, comes from Chris Wheatley of Goal, who is an excellent journalist. He states that the two parties — Arsenal and Ozil — have come to an agreement on a new deal and that an official announcement will be made shortly. Now, it remains to be seen whether his reporting is accurate or not. But he did not exactly state it quietly or with any reservations or compromises, so, for one thing, he is confident in his sources.

This, if true, is excellent news for the Gunners, and Arsene Wenger in particular. With Olivier Giroud set to leave the club in an unpopular decision, even with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang likely to arrive as his replacement, there has been a growing animosity between the fans and the club which was only compounded with the insipid performance against Swansea.

Re-signing Ozil will certainly re-acclimatise Arsenal and the fans. With just six months remaining on the German’s deal and with Alexis Sanchez, who was in a mirrored situation already having departed earlier in this very window, it was expected that Ozil would leave at the end of the season for nothing.

But given his recent performances, even with intermittent absences thanks to an ailing knee injury, even his more vehement detractors have come around to the idea of extending his now five-season North London tenure. The problem was that no one really saw it that likely. Until now.

The news could not have come at a more perfect time. There was certainly a growing disgruntlement within the fanbase, and this should, hopefully, ease some of their more pressing concerns.

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Certainly, Ozil is not the fix-all solution. There is no such thing, and even with his re-signing, there is still much work that needs to be done. But Wenger will be most welcome of a reprieve from the onslaught of critique and questioning. Now it just has to be true.