George Graham slams Arsenal over Mesut Ozil mess

Will Ford
Mesut Ozil Arsenal

Former Arsenal boss George Graham has criticised his former club over their “bad decision” to hand Mesut Ozil a lucrative new contract in 2018.

The playmaker – who has been left out of Arsenal’s Premier League and Europa League squads this season – currently earns £350,000-a-week.


Prick of the Week No. 9: Ademola Lookman and the ‘Panenka’


And Graham is perplexed by the decision and claims the current situation Arsenal find themselves in with the German could easily have been avoided.

He told talkSPORT: “It’s very difficult. The first thing you say is, ‘who is the person who sorted the contract?’

“Did the rest of the board see that contract and agree to it? That was a bad decision.

“We’ve got to try and get rid of him and pay half his wages if he goes to another club, but even then it’s too expensive.

“He’s got to be in a team that’s dominating games and he’s got to be on the ball as much as possible.

“Without the ball… just no. He is definitely lacking, not even at the top level. Without the ball he’s not good enough. With the ball he can be good enough, but he has to be in a good team.

“He was up and down like a yo-yo under Arsene Wenger. He obviously isn’t playing into the new manager’s style.

“You play when you’ve got the ball but you also play when you haven’t got possession. He’s just not up to the standard that Arteta wants.”

Mark Smith and Matt Stead know all about disappointments. Join them to discover that Chelsea are the only Big Six club without representation on this week’s top ten.