Arsenal: Oguzhan Ozyakup familiarity shouldn’t overrule quality

Arsenal let Oguzhan Ozyakup slip out of their grasp years ago but now they want him back. Still, the familiarity attached shouldn’t overruled better quality.

Arsene Wenger‘s list of “we could have had him” players is a frequent groaning point for Arsenal fans. The list is extensive and it is not something that should be as openly bragged about as it is. That said, Oguzhan Ozyakup is on a somewhat different list of players the club did have but then let go.

Ozyakup joined Arsenal in 2008 as a 16-year-old prospect and there he remained until he was called up in 2011 to make a brief appearance in the 8-2 shellacking at Manchester United and was an unused substitute in a subsequent match.

That would be it. Ozyakup was off to his home country to play for Besiktas, where he has since climbed the ranks as an increasingly prominent piece of the Turkish side’s set-up to where he is today, a 25-year-old captain with a couple Turkish SuperLig titles to his name.

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And now, Arsenal want him back. He is available for a free this summer, after reports of a rebuffed transfer attempt in January. There is a certain attraction in the familiarity that Ozyakup brings, given his youth history with the club, but in a practical sense, it’s hard to see where he would best fit in.

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He has played both a defensive midfield role and an attacking one and has shown an ability to win the ball back, but not necessarily a forte. He isn’t the Santi Cazorla type that can break through pressure from deep, though, again, he has shown the potential to be something like that.

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Given the lack of proven results doing either of the things Arsenal need most in a midfielder, I don’t see why he would be given priority over someone like Max Meyer, who has hit the defensive midfield world by storm and has the creative ability to be the German Cazorla.

Plus, Meyer is only 22 and has been touted for years as one of the best young midfielders in the game. Domenico Tedesco’s re-tooling of the young man has unleashed his full potential. Conveniently for the Gunners, he is also out of contract in the summer and can be negotiating pre-contracts.

Of course, having seen Leon Goretzka already declare for Bayern Munich, Meyer is being tipped to do the same, but until it’s announced there is still hope.

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Ozyakup would be a really intriguing pick-up and a versatile option with more facilities at his disposal than Mohamed Elneny. But if we are hoping to go gangbusters on a midfielder to change the state of this midfield, then Meyer is the way to go.