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It's been just over seven years since Mesut Ozil was unveiled as a new Arsenal player. The 2014 World Cup winner joined the Gunners on Deadline Day in August 2013 and the club paid £42.5m for his signature.
While Ozil was highly valued during Arsene Wenger's reign, Unai Emery had a different opinion and often left the midfielder out of the squad. Then came Mikel Arteta, Ozil's former team-mate, who took over as Arsenal manager in December 2019. Under the Spaniard, fans had hoped that Ozil's career would be reignited.
Yet, after football action was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the German was dropped from Arteta's team. Recently, Ozil was omitted from Arsenal's Europa League and Premier League squads. These omissions are clear indications that the 31-year-old's time at Arsenal may soon be up and he could have already made his final appearance as a Gunner.
Despite the nature of his current situation at the club, Ozil has left many fond memories in the minds of the Arsenal faithful. Apart from his brilliant assists, the German has also scored a couple of wonderful goals for the Gunners. Here's a look at the five most memorable goals Ozil has netted in his Arsenal career.
#5 Arsenal 2-0 Napoli (October 2013)
Ozil's first goal for the Gunners came in the UEFA Champions League group stages against Napoli. The German broke the deadlock in the eighth minute, thanks to an assist from Aaron Ramsey.
Minutes later, Ozil became the creator and provided an assist for Olivier Giroud, ensuring that Arsenal took all three points from their second UCL match that season.
While Wenger's team was eventually eliminated from the UCL by Bayern Munich, Ozil's goal marked his arrival in London after spending three years at Real Madrid.
#4 Arsenal 4-1 Norwich City (October 2013)
Although it took Ozil five Premier League matches to get off the mark for the Gunners, the German scored two goals in 30 minutes against Norwich City.
Both goals came in the second half of the match and the eventual 4-1 victory helped the North London club extend their lead at the top of the table. Before facing Norwich City, Ozil had already managed four assists in his first four Premier League games.
The Arsenal faithful quickly saw the importance of the midfielder and understood why Wenger was willing to splash the cash to make him the club's record signing at the time.
In his first season for the Gunners, Ozil scored five times and notched up ten assists in the Premier League. His capability earnt praise from Jose Mourinho, who claimed:
“Ozil is unique. There is no copy of him - not even a bad one. He is the best number 10 in the world."
#3 Arsenal 6-0 Ludogorets (October 2016)
When Ozil was 27, he scored his first career hat-trick against Ludogorets at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners were already 2-0 up by half time and barely a minute after the restart, Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain added Arsenal's third of the night.
From the 56th minute onwards, the spotlight was on Ozil. Santi Cazorla and Lucas Perez were the two players who helped the German complete his hat trick within a span of 31 minutes.
After the game, Ozil was awarded the Man of the Match and he joined the likes of Thierry Henry, Danny Welbeck, Olivier Giroud and Nicklas Bendtner in scoring a Champions League treble for the Gunners.
#2 Arsenal 4-1 Liverpool (April 2015)
Looking at how the Gunners have been struggling against top-six sides in recent years, Arsenal fans should have treasured these victories more instead of taking them for granted.
In April 2015, Hector Bellerin scored the first goal of the game against Liverpool and just three minutes later, Ozil doubled the team's lead via a free-kick.
His curling effort to the side of the goalpost gave Reds goalkeeper Simon Mignolet very little time to react. Arsenal went on to win the game 4-1, with Alexis Sanchez and Giroud getting their names onto the scoresheet.
With that incredible display, Ozil earned the Man of the Match award and in that month, he won Arsenal's Player of the Month award as well. In his prime, the 2015/16 season saw Ozil provide a total of 19 assists in 35 appearances, as the Gunners eventually finished second in the Premier League.
#1 Ludogorets 2-3 Arsenal (November 2016)
It's been almost four years since Ozil scored that goal. Yes, that solo goal against Ludogorets, which Ozil himself claimed was the best goal he ever scored. The home team took an early 2-0 lead over the Gunners, but Granit Xhaka and Giroud pulled two goals back to restore parity.
With only three minutes left on the clock, Mohamed Elneny released a long ball for Ozil, who carried the ball closer to the goal. As his opponents tried to stop him, the German's showed his technical prowess and eventually calmly slotted the ball into the net.
His match-winner completed Arsenal's comeback in Bulgaria, as the Gunners sealed a spot in the last 16 of the Champions League. In his post-match conference, Wenger commented:
"Great players make the right decisions. They take the optimum solution. To me, [at first] it didn’t look like the optimum solution—you wanted him to take the chance earlier. But he had enough skill to prove he was right. When the ball was in the back of the net, it was clear it had been the optimum solution."
From his run, touch and final execution, Ozil ticked all boxes and it is undeniable that this memorable strike will go down as one of the best goals in Arsenal's recent history.
