Arsenal: The Mesut Ozil hostage situation is ongoing

Arsenal are still handcuffed by the presence of Mesut Ozil, and it looks like the situation is preventing us from getting another key target as well.

When you’re spending £350,000 a week on a guy that isn’t bringing anything to the club, it’s understandable that signing new players can prove difficult, especially when those new players require to be paid decent wages. Which, in a nutshell, is what I refer to as Mesut Ozil holding Arsenal hostage.

Granted, Arsene Wenger is the guy that initiated the situation, giving the deal to Ozil and thus making the transition far more difficult than it was already going to be.

But the hostage situation is ongoing, with another victim biting the dust due to our own inability to afford them, thanks in part to Ozil’s wage package and how much of a burden it has become to this club.

Nabil Fekir has long been a target of the Gunners, and he almost secured a £55m to Liverpool last summer, but a medical saw the entire deal fall through.

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Now, with Lyon desperate to score some kind of payday for the creative midfielder, they have cut the price to around £30m, which is well within our price rage. However, according to recent reports, it is Ozil’s contract, AKA his ongoing hostage situation, that is preventing us from keeping up with the Fekir bidding wars that could see the Frenchman land at Real Betis, of all places.

Chances are, this is all speculation, but how far from the truth could it actually be? As mentioned, his wages are such a drain, especially considering that we need to replace him, apparently without even selling him. Meaning that he will continue to suck precious funds from this club even as we build an attack specifically geared towards moving on from him.

It’s a mess, and an awful one at that, and it makes me wonder if this is the same issue that is holding back our signing of someone like Hakim Ziyech. Marc Overmars mentioned that we should just sell Ozil and sign Ziyech, which sounds perfect, but that encases the problem. We can’t sell Ozil because of those same wages that prevent us from signing anyone.

Hence, my likening this to a hostage situation. Even if it was Arsene Wenger who initiated it. It’s still alive and well and will continue to be so long as Mesut Ozil is at the club.