Mesut Ozil: The rise and fall of Arsenal's assist king

Arsenal couldn't believe their luck. As Law told GOAL in an exclusive interview in 2019, "Arsene (Wenger) was very interested as we needed that type of player in midfield. But we didn’t know where Ozil stood. We asked to speak to him, but Madrid said they wanted to first. I don't think that was a happy phone call for Ozil. We then spoke to him and his father and business advisor flew over to London where we met with them."

By that stage, Ozil was all-in. He had indeed been left furious by Madrid putting him up for sale, and subsequently admitted that he would have joined Arsenal “for free" and that the "respect" shown to him by Wenger had been key to his transfer, as it contrasted starkly with the lack of "faith" shown in him by his previous employers.

Arsenal's main obstacle, then, was not Ozil but Tottenham, who had tried to get Madrid to promise not to sell their north London rivals any players to pay to cover the cost of the Bale deal. Chief executive Ivan Gazidis was convinced that Daniel Levy was "bluffing - because he's already spent the Bale money" but he didn't want to take any chances.

On September 1, the day before the close of the summer transfer window, Arsenal hosted Tottenham in the Premier League. On the morning of the game, Law was in Munich, where Ozil was due to undergo his medical, but Gazidis asked him to fly back to London "to be in the directors' box at the Emirates because Tottenham were starting to think something was going down.

"So, I got a flight at 11am, changed on the way and when I walked into the directors' box I saw Franco Baldini and Levy and they asked what I was doing. I said it was the derby, I wasn't going to miss it."

After a 1-0 win for Arsenal, Wenger was asked about deadline day and, while struggling to contain his smile, the Frenchman told Sky Sports that "maybe we'll have a good surprise for you".

It was more than that, though. When Arsenal finally wrapped up the deal for Ozil - despite a late bid from Manchester United to hijack the deal - the club's fans experienced a glorious mix of delight and disbelief. Ozil was just 24 years old at the time and widely regarded as the best attacking midfielder in the world.

He had finished top of the assists charts in his three seasons in Spain and was revered by both the Madrid media and fans. During Bale's official unveiling as a Real player, some supporters had chanted "Don't sell Ozil!" at Perez, while Madrid's players were horrified by the German's exit.

Sergio Ramos fumed, "He's a great footballer, unique, the very last player who I would sell from Real Madrid, if it was up to me. I don't understand this [decision]." Cristiano Ronaldo was even more enraged. Ozil had been his main assist-provider, his principal supplier of passes, and reportedly told his team-mates: "This sale is very bad news for me. He was the player who best knew my moves in front of goal."

Ronaldo was as "angry" that Ozil was leaving as Arsenal fans were ecstatic that he was arriving. When the club-record £42.4 million ($54m) was publicly confirmed, those that had assembled outside the Emirates were sent into ecstasy, celebrating wildly before the Sky Sports cameras. "This is an exciting day for all of us," Gazidis enthused. "We have signed a world-class player who is one of Europe's brightest young talents."

Per Mertesacker knew that from the first time he had trained alongside a teenage Ozil at Werder Bremen. His talent was astounding, but so too was his attitude at times. Mertesacker took particular issue with Ozil neglecting to acknowledge Arsenal's fans after an embarrassing 6-3 loss at Manchester City in December 2013, visibly berating his compatriot for snubbing the supporters, and Ozil promptly issued a public apology.

However, there were constant allegations that Ozil tended to disappear when the going get tough. Wenger did his best to defend him during his debut season, pointing out that he was hardly the first player to struggle to settle in England. The manager also insisted, "Mesut works very hard to adapt to the physical level of the Premier League."

But not hard enough as far as some were concerned. He was accused of being lazy - or worse, looking like he didn't care. Former team-mate Emmanuel Frimpong disagreed, though, arguing, "Ozil's style of play was relaxed and not rushed and I think people took that as him being lazy. Yes, Ozil did not do the extra running because he relied on others to do it for him. But he would create chances whenever he received the ball." And that is beyond dispute.

Ozil could pick a pass like few others. He didn't just find team-mates in the tightest of spaces, he did so with a nonchalance that beggared belief. As former Madrid boss Jose Mourinho once said of his preferred playmaker, "It is an art making football look easy and Mesut has that ability."

Between his first and last appearances for Madrid, Ozil created more chances than anyone else in La Liga (323) and equalled Lionel Messi's tally of 47 assists. In 2015-16, meanwhile, he created more chances (146) than any player in a single season in Premier League history.

It's also telling that he still sits seventh on the all-time list despite the fact that he played fewer games (184) than any other member of the top 30. But there should have been even chances created, even more assists made. Ozil spent nearly eight full seasons in England and yet barely featured during the final 18 months of his stay. He played his final game on March 7, 2020 - despite only leaving for Fenerbahce the following January.

Fittingly, his final touch in an Arsenal shirt was a match-winning assist. So, what went wrong? Why did a generational talent exit in acrimony?

Despite helping the club win three FA Cups in his first four seasons, Ozil never fully silenced his critics. Even former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas questioned his character. "I'm not taking anything away from Mesut Ozil, he played top football [at Real Madrid], but once you step down a little bit... you have to show yourself a little bit more more, because you don't have the same quality around you," the Spaniard told BT Sport. "The club buys you to be the actual leader... but I don't think he has it in him."

But maybe Cesc, Arsenal and others were expecting Ozil to be something he was not. One could certainly argue that he was a victim of a changing game, effectively transformed into a 'luxury player' by tactical trends that demanded far more industry from attacking midfielders.

Ozil clearly would have been a superstar in the 1990s, an age in which trequartistas thrived, but his lackadaisical approach came to be treated with suspicion - and in some cases downright contempt. Time and time again, he was the individual that was made a scapegoat for poor team performances, and not just for Arsenal either. Ozil may have helped Germany win the 2014 World Cup, but his value to Die Mannschaft was a matter of public debate by the time the following tournament in Russia rolled around.

There was also a disturbing racial undertone to the criticism coming from some quarters, at a time when Germany's diplomatic relationship with Turkey - the country Ozil's parents hailed from - was on the verge of complete collapse.

Indeed, when Ozil quit the national team after the national team's shock first-round elimination in Russia, he lashed out at the country's football federation (DFB) and how they viewed him: "I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose."

Much of the controversy had centred on Ozil's ties to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with whom he had posed for a photo alongside Ilkay Gundogan. The latter elected to explain his actions, but Ozil stayed silent until after announcing his international retirement.

However, the likes of Lothar Matthaus insisted that the criticism of Ozil had nothing to do with politics, arguing that he and many others felt that the player no longer appeared to enjoy representing Germany. "I think his time to play in the national team is over," he told ESPN. "And not because of some picture, political decision - it doesn't matter, I don't care. I see the football player Mesut Ozil and [at the World Cup] he didn't perform like before."

It was a sentiment shared by many at Arsenal.

There was a hope that quitting international football might ease the physical and emotional strain on Ozil, who was clearly upset by the way in which he had been vilified in the land of his birth, but Wenger's departure effectively ended all hope of a return of the Ozil had illuminated the 2015-16 season.

What's more, the colossal contract given to him in January 2018 meant that his game, his performances, his attitude, came under even greater scrutiny. In their desperation to hold onto a player that had entered the final six months of his contract - and avoid a repeat of the situation that saw them lose Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United - Arsenal smashed their wage structure to keep Ozil at the Emirates, agreeing to pay him a staggering £350,000 per week.

Sadly, he never came close to justify that bumper pay rise. Unai Emery did his best to console Ozil after his painful Germany break-up, giving him the No.10 shirt and a share of the captaincy, but quickly began to question his commitment to the club. Ozil became a rotational player, left out of the starting line-up for certain matches, with Emery effectively validating the idea that the attacking midfielder simply couldn't be trusted to deliver in difficult away games.

Even Emery's eventual exit did nothing to improve Ozil's fortunes, with Mikel Arteta excluding him from his 25-man Premier League squad for the 2020-21 season.

"Upon signing my new contract in 2018, I pledged my loyalty and allegiance to the club that I love, Arsenal, and it saddens me that this has not been reciprocated," Ozil wrote on Twitter. "I've always tried to remain positive from week to week that there's maybe a chance to get back in the squad soon again. That's why I kept silent so far.

"Before the coronavirus break I was really happy with my development under our new coach Mikel Arteta - we've been on a positive way and I would say my performances were on a really good level. But then things changed, again, and I was no longer allowed to play football for Arsenal. No matter what, I will keep fighting for my chance and not let my eighth season at Arsenal end like this."

It did, though, with Ozil released to join Fenerbahce during the winter window and the sad thing is, when he left, most Arsenal fans felt relief. The player that they had greeted with such enthusiasm had become a burden, a financial strain on a club trying to balance the books and build an exciting young team for the future.

In a small way, Ozil's exit undeniably helped them do exactly that. But that didn't mean that they were happy to see him leave without ever having a proper chance to say goodbye. Club legend Ian Wright spoke for many supporters when he admitted that he was "gutted" by the complete collapse of the relationship with Arsenal and their one-time record signing.

Letting him go was clearly the right call - Ozil retired earlier this year after two underwhelming seasons in Turkey - but it's not as if his time in north London was all bad. Far from it. There were innumerable magical moments, from that joyous deadline day in 2013 to his scintillating display against Chelsea, the newly crowned champions of England, in the FA Cup final four years later.

And then, there was that goal, that one that perfectly encapsulated Ozil's effortless genius, the one against Ludogorets, when he lobbed the goalkeeper and sat down two defenders, making football look so easy that it really did resemble art.

It is that joyous solo strike shows you everything you need to know about the kind of player Mesut Ozil was - while at the same time offering a painful reminder of the all-time great that he could have been.