Mesut Ozil’s agent reveals why he was ‘never the same’ at Arsenal after Santi Cazorla left
SANTI CAZORLA'S departure at Arsenal in 2018 was the reason why Mesut Ozil was 'never the same' again at the Emirates, his agent has claimed.
The pair played alongside each other in North London for five years before Cazorla was released at the end of the 2017-18 season.
The Spanish icon failed to even feature in his last campaign in England due to injury, with his absence in the team said to have had a huge effect on Ozil's game.
Ozil scored a career-best 12 goals during the 2016-17 term, the last season he played with Cazorla.
He never found the back of the net on more than six occasions in a single campaign until he left Arsenal for Fenerbahce in January 2021 having falled out of favour under Mikel Arteta.
Commenting on how Cazorla's exit impacted Ozil, the German's agent Erkut Sogut told : "He had Santi for a while and he loved him.
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"I think probably one of his most favourite players. Mesut is a smart, intelligent player, he reads the game and he is always looking.
"He loves to play with intelligent players.
"If you’re a No10 the one in front of you and the one behind you, a good striker and good No6 who cleans it up and sees you and plays you the ball so you can give the final pass.
"Santi is very smart, very intelligent and has great technique and that suited Mesut a lot to have him behind him.
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"When Santi left you could see it wasn’t the same any more, right away it changed."
Ozil has been suspended indefinitely from the Fenerbahce squad for an alleged "verbal altercation" with interim Ismail Kartal.
After his Arsenal spell ended into a nightmare, his time in Turkey has now also turned sour.
But it hasn't come as a surprise to his former team-mate Nacho Monreal, who has declared Ozil had "problems with everyone" at Arsenal.