Arsenal: Is it time to say goodbye to Mesut Ozil?

Arsenal seem to be at odds over the future of Mesut Ozil with Unai Emery in charge, so is it time to just cut the losses and say goodbye?

Amongst the current Arsenal fan base, no player has divided opinion more than Mesut Ozil. When he’s on form it’s a beautiful sight, but unfortunately those moments are few and far between.

Able to coast by on mediocre performances under Wenger and still be in the starting XI the next week, Ozil has found life a lot different under Unai Emery.

It started at the beginning of the season when Ozil found himself out of the team after a supposed falling out with Emery, and despite making amends and coming back and giving one of the best performances of his Arsenal career in the 3-1 win over Leicester City back in October, it hasn’t been all plain sailing for Mesut Ozil.

He was dropped for the Bournemouth game because Unai Emery didn’t think he was up for the physical presence Bournemouth would pose, and then against Tottenham, the biggest game of the year, he was dropped from the squad all together with Unai Emery citing Ozils problematic back injury as the reason.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

It’s been quiet on both fronts ever since, with Ozil still out of the team with the mystery back injury and now the transfer rumours have started and people are asking why more effort hasn’t been had to keep Aaron Ramsey at the club, who despite being told he’s leaving in May is still performing when required.

A reunion with Jose Mourinho and Alexis Sanchez at Manchester United is the most frequent rumour and also a transfer to Serie A with Inter Milan.

In my opinion in the games Ozil hasn’t played, despite Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s struggles, we haven’t really missed him. We still look a creative force and are getting the required results with other players stepping up. Unai Emery has got Arsenal playing without Ozil’s strengths and maybe it’s time we let him move on.

We would still get a transfer fee of somewhere between £25/35m for him and his £350,000 wages and that could be put to better use elsewhere. There will be younger players available on the market who will probably command higher transfer fees, but Unai Emery can teach them to play to style and teach them his methods, and let’s not forget about Emile Smith Rowe, who should be playing a prominent role over the coming years.

Whether or not Ozil is sold in the coming winter transfer window or next summer I think the likelihood is that Arsenal will be marching on into the future without our German number 11.