Pain in the Arsenal.com
Arsenal: I’d still rather have Henrikh Mkhitaryan than Mesut Ozil
by Josh Sippie
Arsenal have a clear-out coming this summer, but supposedly, Mesut Ozi is going to stay. I’d still rather Henrikh Mkhitarya stay instead, wouldn’t you?
We’re coming to the end of the seas and seeing all kinds of lovely rumors about who Arsenal should and shouldn’t be selling, as well as potential buyers. It’s all quite nice, knowing that everyone else is on board for a major clear out.
Especially when the top names being touted are the three that I pinpointed as the three cash cow sales – Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Shkodran Mustafi.
Yet, of those three names, the one clinging to a stay the hardest is Mesut Ozil, who seems hellbent on extending his stay at the Emirates no matter what that means to the team, who are trying to hard to hit the reset button and move on.
Honestly, I’d much rather keep Mkhitaryan than Ozil. For starters, look at the numbers. In the Premier League this year, Ozil has played 1700 minutes, scored five and assisted on two.
Mkhitaryan, meanwhile, has played 1500 minutes, scored six and assisted four. It’s not like either one of them is knocking the socks off of anything, but to add to those numbers with an intangible, Mkhitaryan works harder. That’s no secret. He always has. It’s the reason he was pegged as an Unai Emery guy more than Ozil was.
We saw it again against Valencia. Ozil wasn’t bad. Not at all. He was a nice little side piece to the striker show. But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – he is not making the kind of money that he’s making to be a cute little side piece. If we hadn’t doubled his wages, then yes, I’d be all about keeping him around in his dandy little supporting role.
But that’s not where we’re at now. Mkhitaryan is making a good deal of money himself, not as much as Ozil, yet he is of far greater use than Ozil, though that isn’t saying much. Both should be sold. I have no doubts about that. Neither has a part in the future of the club.
That said, if we need someone as a stopgap to help see us through, that’s when I choose Mkhitaryan. In a duel of who isn’t hindering us more, the Armenian wins.
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