Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira has claimed that the sale fo Mesut Özil to Arsenal has made the Spanish giants a weaker team and that he "laments" the playmaker's departure.
The Gunners signed the the Germany star for a record £42.4million on transfer deadline day, to the huge delight of fans of the Emirates Stadium club as it was the first sign of a new era in north London.
Arsene Wenger has said many times how pleased he is to have pushed the deal through and it is easy to see why on the pitch, as Özil has been a class act since joining.
The Arsenal manager put the 24-year-old straight into the the starting XI and has been rewarded with three assists already - more than any other player in the Premier League.
Such a talented player, Özil's departure was criticised by a number of Real Madrid players and now Khedira has reiterated his disappointment that he can no longer play his club football with his friend.
"Many players lament the departure of Mesut Ozil, including me," the 26-year-old told Kicker.
"Losing a player with the qualities of Mesut means a weakening. But we have many players in our ranks with great qualities."
Özil and Khedira are on international duty together with Germany this weekend and were celebrating on Friday night after a 3-0 win over Republic of Ireland ensured their automatic qualification for next year's World Cup in Brazil.
Arsenal's new star man was on target in the match, scoring the third and final goal after a neat pass from Bayern Munich midfielder Toni Kroos, adding to the earlier strikes by Chelsea forward Andre Schürrle and the opener from Khedira himself.
0 comments:
Post a Comment