German made an eye-catching Gunners debut in the north east.
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Sunderland head coach Paolo Di Canio was quick to sing the praises of Arsenal’s new record signing Mesut Ozil after the Gunners’ 3-1 Premier League win at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon, according to reports in the Daily Mirror.
The 24-year-old made his debut for the north London club on Wearside, with Ozil making an immediate impression by taking all of 11 minutes to set up the visitors’ opening goal on a plate for in-form front man Olivier Giroud.
And it was the coveted playmaker’s exquisite first-time control as he plucked a long ball over the top from left-back Kieran Gibbs out of the sky, before sweeping it into the path of the waiting France international, that really caught the eye, even of the opposition manager too, who wanted to know after the match whether Ozil was wearing some kind of “magic” boots or not.
“He was lucky, every touch was good! We will all have to check, they were like a glove. He is a rather good player,” bemoaned Di Canio.
However, the Italian should not be too hard on himself or his team, as this is a midfield creator without equal at present in the top-five leagues on the Continent when it comes to creating goals for team-mates.
In fact, Saturday’s assist for Giroud was the 73rd that Ozil had created in the past five seasons, putting the German well ahead of his next challenger on the list, a certain Lionel Messi with ‘just’ 58!
And so it looks like it could be £42.4m well spent on Ozil by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger then.