Arsenal: Hindsight is going to make Mesut Ozil situation look horrible

Arsenal may finally be moving to part ways with Mesut Ozil, but it’s so long overdue that when we have the luxury of hindsight, we won’t like what we see.

No one will hide from the fact that Mesut Ozil‘s tumultuous span at Arsenal has been ugly. All that hope on his arrival set the bar so high, and now he’s not even traveling with the team. He’s being frozen out. There’s no way around that.

There is a rumor that he may be set for a move to Fenerbahce, where he’s wanted to go for awhile, but at this point, it’s about a year and a half overdue. We’ve been paying these outlandish wages to a guy who has no role to play on the club.

While I admire Unai Emery’s dedication to putting a foot down, I also admire Ozil’s determination to earn his spot. The problem is that neither succeeded. Emery still gave Ozil chances and Ozil didn’t do enough to earn his spot.

So here we are, still united as a hap-hap-happy family, with Ozil still disgruntled and the wages still sucking the club a bit dry.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

When Ozil finally does move on, this will not be a pretty episode to look back on. It is going to look something like, “Why didn’t Emery just make it clear to Ozil that he was never going to play?”

Of course, the easy answer is that Emery didn’t know. That he wanted to give Ozil an honest chance. Which would mean that the failure solely lies in Ozil’s court. I think that’s something that many of us have already accepted.

But it also feels like Emery never really believed that Ozil could pull through, but maybe that’s just me extrapolating.

The point is, it’s been messy. And there has been massive collateral damage. Aaron Ramsey, for instance. We are going to look back, see that Ozil never earned his keep, never earned that prolonged stay at the club, and know that because of it, Ramsey was let go for free when he might have stayed.

That sucks. It really sucks.

Knowledge about a situation always seems to develop when the situation is over, so there’s still a chance that clarity casts a new light on the Ozil-Emery divide, but I can’t help but think that when we look back, it’s going to be ugly, just like it appears to be now. Probably even worse.