Arsenal could lose Mesut Ozil

Mesut Ozil could have the same concerns Alexis Sanchez has regarding Arsenal’s ambition

Arsenal remain quietly confident about their chances of retaining talisman Mesut Ozil, but there could be trouble brewing. Ozil may share the same concerns as teammate Alexis Sanchez regarding Arsenal’s level of ambition.

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The Gunners currently sit just two points behind league-leading Leicester City, but are third behind their North London neighbors Tottenham in the table. For most players that would be enough, but for stars like Ozil who are used to pushing for Champions League titles, it may be underwhelming. There has to be something holding the German international back from moving ahead with a new Arsenal contract.

It’s impossible to imagine Arsene Wenger not pushing hard to get a deal done well before now. Ozil has been the engine of Arsenal’s powerful offense as evidenced by his outrageous contribution of 17 assists in just 24 Premier League appearances this year. His ability to pick a pass at any moment has been crucial to the success of Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud in putting the ball in the back of the opposition’s net.

Ozil is finishing up the third year of his original five-year-contract he signed when he joined Arsenal. That doesn’t seem like a warning sign for the club, but it should actually be a major concern. Once a player reaches that point in his contract, the club’s leverage in contract negotiations goes down considerably. It becomes much easier for the player to engineer a move elsewhere once he has less than two years left on his deal.

That puts the Gunners under considerable pressure to get a deal done almost immediately after their season ends (at the latest). One has to believe the club would have preferred to avoid this type of pressure, which means Ozil has resisted their efforts to get a deal done to this point. Perhaps resist is too strong a word, but he certainly hasn’t been in a rush to put his signature on the dotted line.

That leads to the obvious question of why Ozil would hesitate. He’s clearly a huge part of Arsenal’s plans and he’s a lock to start as Wenger’s number 10 as long as he is fit. The club has been successful during his tenure and is a regular participant in the Champions League. He’s making a lot of money as a Premier League star and he’s kept his place in the German national team. On the surface, he has nothing to complain about.

That leaves only two possible reasons for his delay tactics. Either he has another club in mind to move to, or he has concerns about Arsenal’s long-term ambition. I don’t believe, as some do, that he has his heart set on a move to Barcelona. As a result, I think he has to have some misgivings about his future at Arsenal.

Concern over Arsenal’s ambition wouldn’t be an entirely new idea. It’s a concern shared by his talented teammate Alexis Sanchez. My belief, is that Ozil is unconvinced that the North London club is really willing to spend money to add other world-class superstars to play around he and Alexis. The concerns of his attacking teammate may play a huge role in Ozil’s own concerns.

It could also be concern over who Arsenal’s manager is going to be after Arsene Wenger’s inevitable retirement. Ozil might worry that he will sign a five-year-extension with the club and play for a new manager after a season or two. At 27-years of age he won’t be keen to commit to a period of instability. He’ll want to know every move Arsenal will make while he’s still a part of their project.

Arsenal fans will say that this is much ado about nothing. After all, Ozil hasn’t made any public comments about wanting to leave and he has multiple seasons left on his current deal. They could certainly win the Premier League this year which would put to bed any rational player’s concerns about their ambition.

The cold truth is that any time a big-name player lets his contract run down despite the club’s best efforts to sign them to a new deal there is reason to be concerned. We could be seeing the first warning signs of trouble in the contract negotiations between Mesut Ozil and Arsenal.

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