Mesut Ozil’s agent has claimed things were “never the same” for the German at Arsenal after teammate Santi Cazorla left the club.
Cazorla signed for the Gunners from Malaga in the summer of 2012, with Ozil arriving in a surprise deadline day move from Real Madrid the following year.
The duo won back-to-back FA Cups together in 2014 and 2015 and went close to inspiring a title challenge the following season, eventually finishing second to Leicester City.
However, Cazorla suffered a serious Achilles injury in 2017 and left the club in 2018 to return to Spain with Villarreal.
Ozil’s Gunners career gradually declined, to the point where he was frozen out by Mikel Arteta and left last January having gone nine months without a first-team appearance.
“He had Santi for a while and he loved him,” Ozil’s agent Erkut Sogut told AFTV.
“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.”
