Mesut Ozil's agent admits Santi Cazorla's Arsenal exit in 2018 had a detrimental affect on the German.
The German eventually left the Emirates in 2021 after being frozen out by Mikel Arteta whilst on a mammoth salary. Three years prior to that Ozil had seen the Gunners released Cazorla, who failed to play a single game in the 2017/18 season due to injury.
In their final year together Ozil scored a career-best 12 goals and hugely benefitted from playing in front of the Spaniard. Sogut claims Cazorla is one of the World Cup winner's "favourite players" with their chemistry and intellect getting the best out of Ozil.
Erkut Sogut told AFTV : "He had Santi for a while and he loved him. 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 returned to Spain with Villarreal and continued to pull the strings despite his age. The Spaniard was named Arsenal's Player of the Year in 2015 and Ozil was full of praise for his teammate and his capabilities.
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He said following Cazorla's individual recognition: “I think he’s been excellent this year. We’re very happy to have a player like him in our ranks. He’s very good on the ball, as we all know, and is now very defensively strong too. I think we’ll have lots of enjoyment with him over the years because he’s a creative player and it’s a lot of fun for me to play alongside him.
“It makes it easier for me too because he sees things that some other players may not. That’s why we’re pleased to have him here.” Ozil currently finds himself in hot water after being axed from the Fenerbahce squad indefinitely for an alleged "verbal altercation".
The German was involved in a dispute interim manager Ismail Kartal, according to Football London. The club have since tweeted: "Mesut Ozil and Ozan Tufan have been dismissed as a result of the decision taken. It'll be made public."
