was ‘never the same’ at after Santi Cazorla left the club, according to the German’s agent.
Ozil won three , scored 44 goals and provided 77 assists during his eight-year spell with the Gunners, joining the club from in 2013.
But the playmaker fell woefully out of favour during his final years at the club, frozen out by Mikel Arteta despite being the club’s biggest earner and going nine months without a single appearance before eventually leaving in January 2021 to join Fenerbahce.
Some of Ozil’s best spells at Arsenal came playing alongside Cazorla, who starred in the Gunners’ midfield following his arrival from Malaga.
The Spaniard however suffered an achilles injury in 2017 that would require eight surgeries and would at one point leave his career in severe doubt. Cazorla left north London in 2018, with Ozil’s agent Erkut Sogut revealing the departure took a major toll on his client.
‘He had Santi for a while and he loved him,’ Sogut told .
‘I think probably one of his most favourite players. Mesut is a smart, intelligent player, he reads the game and he is always looking. He loves to play with intelligent players.
‘If you’re a No.10 the one in front of you and the one behind you, a good striker and good No.6 who cleans it up and sees you and plays you the ball so you can give the final pass.
‘Santi is very smart, very intelligent and has great technique and that suited Mesut a lot to have him behind him.
‘When Santi left you could see it wasn’t the same any more, right away it changed.’
Cazorla was able to return to the game after his devastating injuries and spent two seasons back at Villarreal before joining Al Sadd in 2020. Â
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