Mesut Ozil Talks Premier League Title Race, Arsenal Future Amid Contract Rumours

Mesut Ozil thinks dropping points against so-called “smaller teams” wrecked Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge this season. But the German playmaker does believe the Gunners can satisfy their minimum target for the campaign by finishing third and qualifying automatically for next season’s UEFA Champions League.

In the meantime, Arsenal’s record signing is prepared to wait until the end of the season before discussing a new contract to extend his stay in north London.

Speaking to German source Sport-Informations-Dienst (h/t OmniSport, via Yahoo Sport), Ozil stated that Arsenal can still salvage something from the season by leapfrogging Manchester City, whom they trail only on goal difference, into third place: “If we finish third in the table and directly qualify for the Champions League, at least we will have met our minimum goal.”

This is the kind of phrasing unlikely to go down well with disgruntled supporters and critics of the Gunners who believe manager Arsene Wenger and the club are too content just to qualify for Europe every season.

Finishing in the basement of the top four and failing to win major trophies has become part of a repetitive cycle at Arsenal, although the FA Cup was claimed in both 2014 and ’15.

But Ozil insists this season could and should have yielded so much more: “But we could have won the league title this season. We dropped too many points against the smaller teams.”

It’s hard to dispute this thinking. Results show draws with Norwich City, …

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