Ex-Arsenal legend Ian Wright believes that Mesut Ozil may haveconvinced himself that Arsenal cannot take the midfielder to the next level.
Speaking in hisSun Sport,column the former striker believes that the German international needs his teammates around him to inspire him to achieve greatness, which was fine when he was playing for Real Madrid.
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The Arsenal midfielder has certainly taken his fair share of criticism in recent weeks from some Arsenal fans and sections of the media. His ineffectual performance in the recent5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich certainly didn't help.
The former England international was quite forthright in his comments about Ozil, saying: "When you leave Real Madrid for any other club - even one like Arsenal - it is going to be a culture shock because your new team-mates are not going to be as good as the ones you have left behind."
Adding: "Ozil was used to playing with Ronaldo, Benzema, Modric, Alonso, Higuain, Ramos and the rest. He needs players of that stature to help and inspire him - and at Arsenal he has come under a lot more pressure to produce the goods."
In a week when it was revealed thatJose Mourinhohad branded the midfielder a coward during a half time rant while they were both at Madrid, Ian Wright's comments could be seen as further criticism for the Arsenal player.
Wright went on to add: "He needs players of that stature to help and inspire him - and at Arsenal he has come under a lot of pressure to produce the goods. I wonder if he really believes that Arsenal are the club who can take him to the level he wants to be at."
The midfielder's perceivedlack ofwork-rate seems to be the point which irks the Arsenal fans; butthe former all-time record goalscorer doesn't think that Ozil has the type of personality and desire that can lead a team to victory when they are struggling.
"As much as it pains me to say it, I don't see the drive and desire to drag his team up by their bootlaces with inspiring performances. But it is not just Ozil who enjoys a lack of accountability at Arsenal. It is the whole team."