Per Mertesacker admits Arsenal pal Mesut Ozil 'p***ed him off'

Mertesacker confronted his German countryman - and wasn't impressed by the response he got

Posted Friday, September 13, 2019 by Dailystar.co.uk

Mesut Ozil has been urged to decide whether he wants to take his Arsenal career to the next level or watch it fizzle out.

The Gunners were listening to offers for their well-paid former World Cup winner this summer and he has yet to play for the club this season.

But Per Mertesacker, his Arsenal and Germany team-mate, claims Ozil remains a genius – when he isn’t settling for second best.

Mertesacker said: “He delivers magic moments for us and also moments where you thought he can go to another level here. At the moment he is fine with that.

“He is a character that is fine with the level he is at, the level he is doing. He’s a different character and sometimes I struggled with that.

“When I approached him and said this is not what we do here, I thought that sticks with us longer. For him it’s ‘no, that’s OK, I accept that we move forward’.

“I was really pissed, for days and weeks. But he relaxes in those moments and he is fine with it.

“He loves playing football. It doesn’t come across so often. He is a genius in terms of what he can produce with the ball. You can see that in every training session.

“Once he gets the ball, he thinks he plays in the park, he can deliver that ball that no one else can deliver. He has got that magical sense.

“Probably the fans don’t understand him. I have played with him. I know how to take him and how to try to pinch him when needed.

“But ultimately it has to come from him if he wants to go to the next level. He can deliver. I can tell you, you have seen it. He can deliver very, very special things.”

Per Mertesacker's autobiography, Big Friendly German, is out now in all good bookshops, Amazon and www.decoubertin.co.uk/BFG. RRP £20.