Former Arsenal player turned academy manager Per Mertesacker has given insight into how frustrating it can be to play alongside Mesut Ozil and potentially the reasons behind his lack of game-time under Unai Emery.
The German star has divided opinion throughout his career and particularly at the Emirates due to his relaxed approach to football.
Ozil has been strong from an assists point of view but his approach has been criticised on occasions by pundits and fans alike.
The 30-year-old has starred for long periods for Arsenal since arriving from Real Madrid in 2013, but this season he is yet to feature in the Premier League.
Mertesacker has now opened up on what it's like to work in tandem with Ozil. Whilst the defender admits he could not help but be amazed by his talent, the way the midfielder goes about his business did lead to sum frustration to say the least.
"First of all he loves playing football. It doesn’t come across so often," Mertesacker explained..
"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’s rested. He thinks he is playing in the park. He can deliver the ball that no one else can deliver. He has got that magical sense.
"But he is not the kind of guy who approaches people and says, ‘You need to do this, that and that’.
"He’s a different character and sometimes I struggled with that. I was really p*****, for days and weeks. But he relaxes in those moments and he is fine with it.
"But he delivered magic moments for us, moments when you thought he could go to another level."
