‘He’s now Arsenal’s No.1 man’ – Sky Sports pundits pile pressure on AFC star to deliver

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Mesut Ozil penned a new Arsenal contract on Thursday, and Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have insisted that he must now deliver.

As per The Guardian, it’s been claimed that the German international will now earn £350,000-a-week at the Emirates, with the Gunners putting their faith in him to help lead the club to success in the coming years.

At 29 years of age, now is the time for Ozil to step up, be a leader for Arsenal and take them to the next level with the help of January signings Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but Carragher believes that the main focus is now on the German playmaker to produce the goods.

“I think the question has always been whether he does decide the big games, is he the man to take them to big trophies and the Premier League,” he told Sky Sports. “There’s no doubt he’s now Arsenal’s No 1 man after Sanchez has gone.”

Neville echoed that point, insisting that while he’s been impressed with Ozil’s form in recent times, he added that he must be consistent and play at a high level to really give Arsenal the chance to compete for major honours moving forward.

It may sound like pressure being piled on the former Real Madrid star, but ultimately if he has signed such a lucrative deal, coupled with the important creative role he has in the Arsenal team, then he must now deliver with no excuses for a world-class player like him not to.

Mkhitaryan will help carry the creativity load while Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette’s movement and prolific finishing in front of goal should be a dream for him to pull the strings and provide the assists.

One bigger concern for Arsenal is the lack of balance in the side as they have the worst defensive record of the top eight sides in the Premier League having conceded 34 goals in 25 games, but that will surely be the next area addressed by Arsene Wenger in the summer.

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