Arsenal Transfer News: Mesut Ozil Rumours Shine New Light on Cesc Fabregas Snub

Many Arsenal fans continue to question Arsene Wenger's use of Mesut Ozil and failure to re-sign Cesc Fabregas, and on Wednesday it has become apparent that the Frenchman had the chance to replace Ozil with the Chelsea man during the summer.

Ozil proved himself a world-class playmaker at Werder Bremen and Real Madrid, where his creative desires were satisfied through the centre. This quality has also shown itself in the German national setup. Why, then, does Wenger continue to deploy the talented midfielder on the flank?

Most irritatingly, why does he still do it after Ozil showed his excellence through the middle against Aston Villa and Galatasaray? The player's lack of quality out wide is alarming and reportedly tempted Pep Guardiola into mobilising a summer rescue act by trying to sign him for Bayern Munich, as reported by Charles Perrin of the Express.

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Perrin suggested Wenger turned this bid down. El Confidencial journalist Enrique Marin, reported via 101 Great Goals, believes Wenger had to the opportunity to sell Ozil and then bring in Cesc Fabregas. He said "pride" stopped this happening and that the decision is now "affecting team selection" at the Emirates.

This analysis showed itself in full force during Arsenal's recent 2-0 loss to Chelsea. While Fabregas was busy pulling the strings and setting up Diego Costa with a stunning assist, Wenger was struggling to coax his midfield into shape.

He substituted Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez, nearly every midfielder aside from Ozil, who remained ineffective on the left. None of these stars appeared to be in their best positions and all faltered against a Blues outfit that is being run by Fabregas' creativity. Let's take a look at a quick stats comparison between Ozil and Cesc:

	Mesut Ozil	Cesc Fabregas
Appearances	6	7
Goals	1	0
Assists	1	7
Match averages:
Shots	1.2	1.3
Key passes	2.3	3.1
Completed dribbles	2.8	1.1
Tackles made	1.2	1.7
Times tackled	1.2	1.1
Turnovers	1.8	0.4
Pass completion	88.1%	89.9%
WhoScored.com Rating	7.31	7.91

The Sun tweeted another alarming stat:

B/R UK also posted an unfortunate coming together between the pair:

It didn't have to be this way, however. Fabregas long suggested he would have chosen an Arsenal return over a move elsewhere—something Wenger recently acknowledged—reported by Eurosport. The midfielder claimed Arsenal's crammed midfield numbers halted any chance of a move, as Wenger opted to keep Ozil et al instead of bringing home the former Gunners captain.

"Wenger had my position well covered with Ozil, Santi and Wilshere," said Fabregas, reported by Pete Jenson of the Mail Online. "It was the position he needed least and so I chose Chelsea even though Arsenal had the first option."

Prior to facing Chelsea, Wenger appeared to admit Fabregas and Ozil wouldn't have been workable in his squad, per the north London club's Twitter account:

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

It's perhaps easy to say with hindsight, but the signs were there that this would be a poor decision. Ozil hasn't performed consistently well since the start of 2014 and his positive impact on the squad has diminished.

His career is progressing along the same route as Shinji Kagawa's at Manchester United; he is utilised in the wrong place so often that his confidence remains low, meaning he'll rarely show top form and eventually be sold.

Wenger is wasting Ozil's talents by shoehorning him into the side. The German's lack of pace and defensive contribution ensures he is battling against all natural instincts when deployed out wide. He is a master at finding pockets of space, playing smart short passes to team-mates and arriving late into the box. He doesn't get to satisfy any of these desires when placed in a one-on-one battle with a natural full-back.

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

Worst of all, Fabregas was available for a pittance. His approximate fee of £30 million is short change for a player whose quality is proven across the Premier League, La Liga and the international setup. Fabregas has Arsenal in his blood but rejection from the man who got his career beating has brought the blue of his veins to prominence.

There's no doubt Ozil can be as important to Arsenal as Fabregas already is to Chelsea. The fact Fabregas already looks more at home than his competitor is highly worrying, though.

The Spaniard is playing with the assurance of a Chelsea veteran, whereas Ozil stumbles with the presence of a ball boy who has lost his seat. He is world class when in form, but changes need to be made or else he'll follow Kagawa to the Bundesliga with a question mark over his head.

It's most frustrating to think that, if Wenger was always intent on playing Ozil on the flank, he could have fit Fabregas into his preferred central role after all.