Arsenal: Mesut Özil is going nowhere

After a hard first eight months together, Mesut Özil and Unai Emery have found cohesion at the right time for Arsenal. Is his future now securely in London?

Every footballing outlet has speculated over the future of Mesut Özil in North London since Unai Emery took over the reigns. After ten long months, I’ve got news: Özil is going nowhere.

The rumors over Arsenal’s most unique, expensive and expressive number ten have varied remarkably since the departure of Arsene Wenger. Under Arsene Wenger, Özil was treated as the special player he is; under Unai Emery, such platitudes were never viable.

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Emery made clear that Özil would have to earn his place, and things appeared bleak in this respect. Emery never committed to Özil as anything of overwhelming importance, while always dually insisting that he was necessary to practical team success.

Despite this, Özil could not break into any competition with consistency to begin the year. He was declared unfit due to injury at times, a poor match due to physicality or tactics in others. Strong or weak teams, Premier League, Carabao Cup, FA Cup or Europa League, the benchings were indiscriminate. Press conference quotes by the manager were followed by ambiguous tweets by the player.

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During the January transfer window, rumors flew around that Özil could go to Italy, and even as came out later, to PSG in an offer that actually existed. With all of that which precedes these transfer options and rumors, many players would’ve turned tail for a new start. But Özil is not like very many players — or people, for that matter.

He turned down the chance, and posted a quote from Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp two weeks after the window closed, amidst further growing pains. He made clear that Arsenal was his home, he wanted nothing temporary, and that he would fight to stay then and in the future.

Instead of leaving, he worked his way back into the conversation of exceptional artists creating in the attacking third. Emery’s tough love has finally been lauded as positive. That Emery asserted himself, made Özil’s quiescence of all the consequence for their future together. They both come out looking stronger after all of the contention and personal negotiation.

Better even still, all of this is coming at the best of times, as Arsenal are poised to make runs in both the Premier League and Europa League. In their bid to get back into Champions League contention by any means necessary, they are now firing at full capacity with their best players.

All of this is resultant from communication, hard work, vision and trust. Both sides worked towards this point and have essentially gained a higher level of play from a player already owned. Having not sold their most expensive player, his return to form rejuvenates the team and begins to justify his wage.

Özil displayed an uncanny loyalty and ambition to continue in his journey as an Arsenal man. But this has always been the German’s M.O. Long known as a cerebral and eccentric man, for as long as he has played, his desire has been in question. Jose Mourinho said it best:

"“If you are expecting Ozil to be super aggressive and running miles and miles side to side and to show great enthusiasm and aggressivity – this is not Mesut. If you are waiting for somebody who every time he touches the ball, the ball smiles and every time he makes the pass the ball goes in the right direction with the right speed and intensity – this is Mesut. This is his passion and how he displays it.”"

Özil recognizes the energy that this team has, the tactician it has, the youth, the pace and the vitality he can contribute to. His resiliency was shocking to the administration, media and coaches who shopped him and attempted to tempt him into leaving through internal exile. It may have been attractive to lose his tremendous weekly salary, but when fully committed and confident as he is currently, who was replacing those performances? No one on the team currently, despite the talented youth movement and the remarkable Aaron Ramsey, who, incidentally, is already on his way out.

This brings us to the present and future. As Arsenal race towards the end of their two campaigns, does Özil find himself shopped again? With continued form as he has found himself in the last month, and a better relationship with Emery, it seems unlikely.

More to the point, if Özil didn’t want to when it was tough, he won’t want to now, with the going that little bit smoother. He ultimately was, and remains, in control of his destiny. To this effect he made quite clear, he is a Gunner and is dedicated to bringing the club back into constant top-tier contention. And that should be enough to get everyone tweeting #YaGunnersYa.