Arsenal round-up: Mesut Ozil targets area to strengthen; Arsene Wenger on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; Alexis Sanchez providing inspiration

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Mesut Ozil is open to staying at Arsenal and he hopes to win trophies at the club, but he believes that the squad needs to be strengthened if they are to compete for major honours. The German midfielder gave the following comments in a rare interview with the Mail:

‘I think the club know they need to strengthen. But what’s most important is the manager’s opinion. He and the club will make the decision.

‘When you look at our squad, it’s not as broad as Bayern’s or Real Madrid’s. In the Champions League, that’s not enough, especially against big teams, because they have more breadth in their squad.’

It is obvious to everybody that Arsenal need to strengthen in the summer, especially if they are set to lose key first team players. Arsene Wenger has always been reluctant to spend big, but he no longer has a choice. If he wants to remain as manager, he needs to accept help and new players are vital. The Gunners were outclassed by Bayern Munich and they are struggling to qualify for the Champions League. If they don’t invest significantly into recruitment, they will continue to stagnate and risk losing key players such as Ozil.

Another player with an uncertain future is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The English winger is close to entering the final 12 months of his contract and there is a lot of interest from other Premier League clubs to tempt him away from the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal could regret letting his contract run into its final year and Wenger believes that it is vital that the club agree on a new contract with the 23-year-old. These quotes were reported in the Independent:

“I personally think it is vital that Chamberlain stays at Arsenal,”

“We bought him when he was very young, we have built him up and I think he has a great mentality. I like his mentality and he has a good football brain. It would be a big damage for us to lose this kind of player.”

It has been one of the best seasons for Oxlade-Chamberlain at the Emirates Stadium and he is close to becoming a regular in the Arsenal team. It has taken him a few years to reach this point and his frustration is understandable. The Gunners need to do everything in their power to convince him to extend his contract. If they don’t, he will leave to join one of their Premier League rivals and their laziness over contracts could come back to haunt them.

Hector Bellerin has been talking to the Arsenal website and he has been praising Alexis Sanchez. There had been rumours that the Chilean caused a dressing room divide at the club, but the club’s right-back has claimed that Sanchez is the one person who inspires the team to give everything in training.

“Sometimes he’s [Sanchez] the first one to tell other players when we’re not giving 100 per cent.

“He’s a leader, we have loads of leaders in the dressing room but he’s the first one to get frustrated.”

These are reassuring quotes from Bellerin as it suggests that there isn’t a split in the Arsenal dressing room and that Sanchez is an inspiring figure, rather than a decisive one. However, given that this was an interview that was given to the club’s website, the comments have to be taken with a pinch of salt as they are unlikely to publish anything that wasn’t positive.

Featured image: All rights reserved by Stuart MacFarlane