WIZARD OF OZCAN
ARSENAL are set for a few interesting months coming up.
Come January, the contracts for Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil run down to a very critical level. Both players can speak to clubs outside of England in terms of moving for a free in the summer and are able to sign pre-contract deals.
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With that in mind, clubs will be looking to offer the Gunners deals during the winter transfer window, tempting them with cashing in rather than seeing the duo leaving for free.
With that in mind, the North London club will need to keep one eye on the future and in Stuttgart’s Berkay Ozcan they may have found a new future superstar, Football Whispers have the low down.
Who is Berkay Ozcan and where does he come from?
This 19-year-old midfielder has been labelled as the ‘new Mesut Ozil’ since breaking through at VfB Stuttgart. Born in Karlsruhe to Turkish parents, he has been capped for Germany at Under-15 level, but switched allegiances and now plays for Turkey’s Under-21 side.
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After joining Karlsruhe, his local team, he moved to Stuttgart and joined their youth set-up in 2013. Charging through their Under-17 and Under-19 sides, he was scoring and setting up goals for fun and made his first-team debut in 2016 playing in a Bundesliga 2 fixture against St. Pauli.
It only took until his third game to add his first senior assists, grabbing two in a 2-1 away win over SV Sandhausen.
Stuttgart ended the season winning the division and gaining promotion to the Bundesliga. He started 13 of his 27 appearances, scoring twice and setting up three.
The 19-year-old is still finding his feet in the senior squad, but in just two appearances this campaign he has two assists, both coming in the 3-0 win over Freiburg, his first 90 minutes in the top flight.
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Playing in the midfield, Ozcan can use both feet and will drift all around the pitch looking for pockets of space. He has the speed to beat defenders off the dribble, but the upper-body strength to hold them off too.
He’s shown the vision to pick a pass off both feet and he is showing himself to be a set-piece expert, and his corners have already caused a lot of issues for Bundesliga clubs.
Where is his most likely destination?
Still trying to establish himself in the Stuttgart team, it should be far too early to talk about a potential move, but that hasn’t stopped clubs paying attention to what he has already achieved.
"My agent and I are in talks with Arsenal. They have been scouting me for the past two years, and send representatives to watch my games,” he admitted to beIN Sports when asked about the Gunners.
“My agent is in direct talks with them, I am not sure if now is the right time for me to join Arsenal - it may be a bit early for me."
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Ozcan seems like a kid with a mature head on his shoulder, and you can already see from game to game his experience and ability improve with the minutes he is finding on the pitch.
"I want to prove myself at Stuttgart and keep developing first.
“Ultimately Arsenal is the club I want to join in the future and, God willing, I will achieve my goal."
It may be far too early for clubs to be looking at the 19-year-old as a potential starter. The Bundesliga is the ideal place to grow and Stuttgart have a good young nucleus who they will want to grow together.
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However, if Arsenal do lose Ozil sooner, rather than later, they will need a replacement and in the 3-4-2-1 formation, with several attackers already in the side, Arsene Wenger could look to sign Ozcan and bring him through.
How much would he cost?
Contracted until 2019, Stuttgart are in a position where they would need to act soon. Let his current deal run down any further and he could leave for nothing in 18 months.
Even in the summer the German side wouldn’t be able to demand a huge fee for his release. Perhaps worth around £10million at the moment, his value is only going to rise and Stuttgart will hope they deal with his contract situation better than the Gunners have managed Ozil and Sanchez.
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