Manchester United may have already made decision on Arsenal player Mesut Ozil

Mesut Ozil does not do auditions. But the Arsenal superstar will not have a better opportunity to finally banish *those* longstanding doubts against Manchester United on Saturday.

Since moving to the Emirates, Ozil has scored 33 times and created a further 61 goals but, tellingly, he has only made a direct contribution on 13 occasions against United, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham.


That has been one of the main criticisms of the 29-year-old since he rocked up at the Emirates. Can he take a game against the top six by the scruff of the neck and prove he is among the Premier League's most effective players as well as the most talented?

His qualities are not in question - the one-touch flicks, the incisive runs and the killer through balls - but Ozil has to find that level on a consistent basis to get what he wants.
The Germany superstar is now 29, but has just one league title to show for his efforts. That, more than a 30% wage hike , is what is driving his thirst to return to the very top rather than basking in the riches of his spiritual home in Turkey.

His camp feel there has been a targeted campaign against him to paint him as a money-grabbing has-been, and that siege mentality has been at the heart of Ozil's resurgence of late.
It is hardly a coincidence that Ozil is returning to something resembling his best with just a matter of weeks to go until he is free to negotiate with other clubs.
Ozil's big comeback started with a man of the match display against Everton at Goodison Park last month and he followed that up with another impressive showing against Swansea just a few days later.

As has often been the case, he was a passenger when it mattered most - against City at the Etihad when his team were struggling. But, to Ozil's credit, he immediately bounced back in dismantling Tottenham in the north London derby.

That showing, particularly in the second-half, earned Ozil a standing ovation from even the most cynical of Arsenal fans after he showed fight, out muscling Moussa Dembele at one point, and got stuck in deep in his own half.
As has often been the case, he was a passenger when it mattered most - against City at the Etihad when his team were struggling. But, to Ozil's credit, he immediately bounced back in dismantling Tottenham in the north London derby.
That showing, particularly in the second-half, earned Ozil a standing ovation from even the most cynical of Arsenal fans after he showed fight, out muscling Moussa Dembele at one point, and got stuck in deep in his own half.

The Portuguese only needed two hours notice to write the foreword for Ozil's autobiography last year and there remains a strong bond between them. They often share a warm embrace and chat away from the television cameras before or after a game.
The idea of giving Ozil what he bizarrely wants, the No.10 shirt, is not something Mourinho would shirk in the summer having previously stripped Lassana Diarra of the honour in his second season Real Madrid