Arsenal: Mesut Ozil will have to scoot over for second King

Arsenal put up a masterclass against Everton, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan was the pinnacle. But as Mesut Ozil is still the king, where does that leave the Armenian?

Arsenal’s brilliant performance against Everton saw the club put up five thrilling goals in their first match of the “new era” of the club. This era aims to be characterized by no boundaries in the transfer market, a ruthless edge, and enough star power to see the club through the bad times.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan was the star of this opening foray. He set a season record as the first Premier League player to record three assists in a single game. There were plenty of other stats attached to this stat – for instance, he only created three chances, all of which were assists.

It also put him on level terms with Alexis Sanchez for Arsenal assists this year, something that is immensely satisfying for fans.

While Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Christian Eriksen, all their respective teams’ “assist kings” have created two assists in a single week, none have been able to do what Mkhitaryan did in his very first match with the Gunners.

It took him all of 121 minutes to break a record for the club. An assist record, no less, which had been the sole territory of Mesut Ozil, who broke all kinds of assist records in the 2015/16 season.

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When he signed with the club, Mkhitaryan was clear about who the king of the assist currently is – it’s Mesut Ozil.

But from the German’s standpoint, it may be best to accept that there is another King in town and, despite what history may tell us, having two kings is going to work out just fine, and won’t end in wars or bloodshed.

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The brilliant thing about having these two assist kings is that they both operate in such different fashions, yet the end product is the same. Mkhitaryan is effort-driven, he paces up and down the pitch, but he passes with pinpoint accuracy.

Ozil is a more cerebral passer, scoping out play and finding the best possible option with the pass. But again, in the end, these two kings produce the same result – chances for team mates which, in turn, culminate in assists.

So while Ozil is the king, it may be best to tamper that “sole monarch” philosophy and start looking at the partnership that Ozil and Mkhitaryan are going to build as the new gold standard of this club.

Next: 3 Reasons Not To Be Concerned With Aubameyang's "Attitude"

Mkhitaryan will be step for step with Mesut Ozil in their budding partnership and we will soon see that they are each other’s equal.