Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown has said he doesn’t want to see his old club sign Arsenal outcast Mesut Ozil.
The German playmaker’s career at the Emirates Stadium is surely over after falling out of favour with Mikel Arteta in recent times, with the player not even making his manager’s Premier League or Europa League squads this term.
Brown now thinks it’s likely Ozil will be on his way out of Arsenal at the next opportunity, but when asked if he’d take him at Man Utd, the former England international made it clear that he probably doesn’t think it’s a good idea.
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United have raided Arsenal for their big names in recent times, with mixed success. Robin van Persie was a big hit when he moved from north London to Manchester in 2012, firing the Red Devils to the Premier League title in his first season there.
Alexis Sanchez, however, proved a major flop after leaving Arsenal for United in January 2018, so perhaps Brown is still scarred by that experience.
Brown, speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes at its launch of the 5-A-Side Bet on Man United v Man City, said: “I don’t think it’s as simple as just bringing Mesut Ozil back into the team.
“He’s had three managers now where they could’ve brought him back in on a regular basis and they’ve not, for whatever reason. I think it’s fairly clear he’s going to leave the club and that’ll be the end of that. We all know how good he is and how talented he is. It’s a shame it’s just not worked out.
“We don’t know why he’s not been picked, it could be something behind the scenes. Maybe it’s something personal that he’s said internally – we don’t know. But whatever it is I don’t think he’ll be around much longer – I’d actually guess that it’s something they’ll try and sort out in the next transfer window. Whether they can or not I don’t know because Ozil’s on a lot of money. The club will have to take a hit on that one; at the end of the day they offered him the contract. It happens a few times; big clubs get it wrong.
“Would I like to see him at United? He’s probably too much money, isn’t he? There’s only a few clubs that can afford him and that’s the problem Arsenal have got. I think United have tried something similar with Alexis Sanchez and that didn’t really work out so I probably wouldn’t have him at United.”