Ozil confident of Arsenal success

05 September 2013 13:16

Arsenal's record signing Mesut Ozil on Thursday expressed confidence that he can hit the ground running at the Emirates Stadium and help the club end their eight-year trophy drought.

Ozil signed from Real Madrid on Monday for a reported fee of £42.4 million ($66 million, 50 million euros) after being told he could no longer be certain of a first-team place at the Bernabeu following the arrivals of Isco and Gareth Bale.

The German midfielder's international manager, Joachim Low, has expressed surprise at the move but Ozil says he is motivated by the challenge of helping Arsenal win a first title since the 2005 FA Cup.

"I want to improve myself further and I am looking forward to the style of play," Ozil told the Arsenal website.

"Arsenal are well known for the strength of their technical game and their desire to play attacking football. I think I will fit perfectly into that. That is why I chose to sign for the club.

"In the last few years, Arsenal haven't been so successful, but we want to become more successful. We want to win trophies. I think the fans are looking forward to that too.

"We have a very strong and a very young team that can improve a lot under the manager. I think we will win trophies because we have the potential."

Ozil, who is expected to make his debut at Sunderland on September 14, says he believes his style of play will enable him to adapt quickly to life under Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

"I am the sort of player that likes to create goals. I think a lot of my team-mates know me as a player who is not selfish," he said.

"It makes me very happy when I create goals or score goals myself, but the most important thing is that the team reaches its goal and plays positive football."

The 24-year-old is also looking forward to testing himself amid the breathless cut and thrust of the English top flight.

"I am happy to be playing in the Premier League because everyone knows it is the strongest league in the world. There are simply a lot of top teams," he said.

"I want to prove myself there. It is a new challenge for me, a new task. I am looking forward to that. I want to improve further under the boss and in the team. I am really excited about it.

"I am so happy to be playing at Arsenal. I am honoured by it. I hope we can have a successful season."

Ozil is currently on international duty with Germany and is expected to feature in their World Cup qualifying games against Austria and the Faroe Islands.

His Germany team-mate, Lukas Podolski, who also plays for Arsenal, said he was delighted at the move.

"Mesut and I are going to rock Arsenal," he was quoted as saying by German daily Bild.

"It's great that he's coming, he's a good friend and a brilliant footballer.

Podolski is currently out with a hamstring injury and unlikely to play before the end of the year but said Ozil was a "great fit" for the north London club, who also have Germany's Per Mertesacker in their line-up.

"We're already playing great football, the only thing that was missing was the final punch, that element of surprise," said Podolski.

"That's exactly what Mesut will give us."

Source: AFP