'You expect Ozil to become the leader'

It was arguably the biggest news of the season for us when Mesut Ozil committed his future to the club by signing a new contract.

Arsene Wenger was understandably delighted that the World Cup winner has decided to stay, and this is what he told the press conference:

on Ozil feeling like a new signing…

It is, because many predicted that he will not commit and not sign for us. Overall it’s good news for us. When you look at the transfer market today, the fact that you can keep a player of that calibre is of course good news. The fact that he committed for a longer period shows as well that he will have to do that as well on the pitch and lead the team.

on if others could follow Ozil in signing new deals…

Yes, you know you will see that more and more, that players go to the end of a contract. I said that many times. Why? Because there’s expected inflation on the wages. The demands are so high that you cannot always give in. The Alexis example is a big one. That doesn’t mean that you don’t start to extend the contracts early enough. We started a long, long time ago. At the end of the day, you can accept the demands or not, and that will happen more and more, especially with the level of the transfer market.

on Ozil now having an even greater responsibility…

Yes of course. He has committed his future to the club in a period where we are in a trick position on that front, in qualifying for the Champions League. You expect that he becomes the leader and takes the responsibility to lead the team to success.