‘Mesut’s hungry and wants success’

Mesut Ozil has scored six times in his last nine Arsenal appearances - and that superb run of form comes as no surprise to one team-mate in particular.

Speaking in Saturday's Middlesbrough programme, Per Mertesacker explains why he’s always felt “there is more to come” from his compatriot.

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“At the moment, everything seems to be coming together for him,” Mertesacker said. “Look at him on Wednesday night, he assisted one and then scored three. This is a reward for all of Mesut’s work and patience.

“He’s hungry, he wants success and he wants to push himself. He’s showing now that he can score, that he can help lead the team.

“He’s been vital for us this season and he can make the difference at any second. He wants to lead this club to success, and I’m very happy with his recent performances.

“Mesut is benefiting from the strength of our team cohesion. We want to be dangerous, to be a threat in every single position.

“We want opposition teams to walk into the Emirates and know that they are facing a team that can score goals from all over the pitch, where everyone can help out.

“That’s been key recently - we have so many talents, so many skill sets and so many different ways of hurting teams and breaking them down.

“When we are on our game offensively, there’s not much you can do to stop us, because we have so many options. That’s a good situation for us to be in. But we need to maintain it now.”