Mesut Ozil has ‘room for improvement’ says Wenger

Wenger: 'Ozil a hugely talented player'. Picture: Getty

The £42.5 million deadline-day arrival from Real Madrid has returned somewhat subdued performances in recent weeks, and was rested by Germany for their internationals against Italy and then England at Wembley following a minor virus.

Nevertheless, Ozil will again be at the heart of the Arsenal team when they tackle Marseille in the Champions League tonight, when victory could see them qualify for the knockout stages.

Wenger has every confidence the 25-year-old’s quality will come through what has been a testing period of transition.

“First of all, Ozil is a hugely talented player,” said Wenger. “He has just arrived here three months ago and overall did not have the best of preparations for the (Premier) League. Ozil is a young player, 25-years-old, so of course, there is a lot of room for improvement for him.”

Wenger maintains there are no extra special demands placed on the German playmaker, who arrived in a wave of publicity and scored a superb first goal for his new club in the 2-0 Champions League win over Napoli on 1 October.

“We have plenty of players who can take the ball and play, but because he plays in the central part of the pitch the ball goes through him,’’ Wenger said.

“However, we don’t put any special responsibility on him. Maybe he feels a bit more pressure to do that. But we just want the game to be played like we see it and do not put any special responsibility on him because everybody in our team can deliver great balls.”