Everyone needs Özil

With Arsenal completing the club record signing of Mesut Özil on transfer deadline day, Adam Bate looks at what the Germany international can bring to the Premier League.

Do Arsenal really need Mesut Özil? He’s no striker but the point really ought to be moot. This is the most stunning Gunners signing since Dennis Bergkamp. If there’s a difference it’s that the Dutch master came with question marks over his ability to translate his form abroad after a difficult spell in Italy. With Özil, there should be no such doubts. “Özil is unique,” said his former Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho. “There is no copy of him. Not even a bad copy. He is the best No.10 in the world.”

In the 24-year-old German, Arsenal have signed a world-class player at the peak of his powers. Just as Mourinho asserts, with more assists than any other footballer in Europe’s top five leagues over the past five seasons, Özil has a justifiable claim to be regarded as the game’s foremost creator – the pre-eminent playmaker around today.

If you’re a cynical soul of the view that those assist records are bolstered only by the genius of Cristiano Ronaldo – passes that preceded goals, rather than goals resulting from passes, if you like – consider the differential between Özil and his Real Madrid team-mates. While the rest of the creators in Real’s midfield – Ronaldo, Kaka, Angel Di Maria, Luka Modric and Xabi Alonso – produced no more than 2.33 key passes per 90 minutes, Özil delivered 4.07 key passes per full game last season.