Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker believes new-signing Mesut Ozil has settled in England quickly and the club are benefiting from that greatly.
The £43million-man has been superb for The Gunners and bagged his first goal for the club on Tuesday night during their 2-0 win over Napoli in the Champions League, as well as grabbing an assist for the second.
The German international completed his move to England on deadline day and despite only being in the country for just over a month, his German team-mate, Mertesacker, believes he has already settled into English life.
“Mesut can play football, that is what his aim is to be here to do, so it is just the little details,” Mertesacker said.
“It is things like how to get on (in London), how to come to the training ground, to get to whatever he wants to go. It is just a quick call or a text, you can help him out.
“I need to (help Ozil settle), because it is very important to get him into the squad quickly, so that he can adapt and play with freedom.
“That is what he is – his vision is enormous and with him we are more dangerous and can compete at the higher levels.
“We try to make it comfortable for him to adapt as quickly as possible and it fits.
“Against Napoli, you felt that he could play 90 minutes on a high level, he can make the difference at any time in the game.
“We are delighted to have him here and to help him to get into the team. He has shown that he respects our game and that he does fit in.
“We can expect a lot (more) from him in the coming weeks, you could see that we needed his contribution and he is the right addition.”
Ozil became the third German player to sign for Arsenal within two years after following Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski and the centre-back is happy to have a couple of Germans with him in the squad.
“At first I was on my own here, with no Germans in the senior Arsenal squad, so it took me maybe one season to settle in completely,” he said.
“I am delighted with my current form and my performances, but in football life changes so quickly, you have to be aware of every situation.
“We have a good and strong squad, if everybody is fit, the boss has a good selection.
“I think we now have a squad to compete at the high level and that is what we need to do in the coming weeks.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
