Arsenal broke there transfer record to sign Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid for £42.4million. The German midfielder was a success with Madrid due to his creativity. During his time in Spain, Ozil racked up 27 goals and 81 assists in 157 appearances. These impressive stats did not go unnoticed and earned him a move to north London.
Since joining Arsenal, the German midfielder has been criticised for his performances and slow adaptation to the Barclays Premier League. Last season, Arsenal created 406 goal scoring chances as a team. Ozil was responsible for 76 of those chances which represent roughly 18.7% of the chances created. Ozil was the most influential player for the Gunners, his team-mates simply could not finish the chances provided which reduced the amount of assists he claimed.
Ozil currently has five assists and three goals in 14 appearances in the league this season. Although these stats do not resemble his impressive form at Madrid, his creativity is still evident for Arsenal. David Silva is the only player who has completed more passes in the final third this season than Ozil. Ozil is also second with most touches in the oppositions half behind Manchester City’s David Silva. Ozil boasts an 87% pass rate and has created a total of 36 goal scoring chances this season despite missing some of the campaign due to injury.
Ozil is only 26-years-old and is an obvious talent. Despite his stats not mirroring that of Real Madrid or Werder Bremen, Ozil is performing well enough and will only continue to adapt too arguably the most competitive league in the world.