Tuesday 15 November 2016 16:33, UK
Mesut Ozil has inherited Dennis Bergkamp's role as Arsenal's "maestro", according to club great Robert Pires.
Ozil topped Arsenal's assist chart last season and has added goals this time around, scoring seven in 17 appearances including a first senior hat-trick.
Arsene Wenger this month said Ozil could not be considered in the same bracket as Bergkamp unless he signs a new contract with the club.
But Pires, who twice played alongside the Dutchman in Premier League title-winning sides and is still a regular at the Arsenal training ground, says Ozil is the current side's equivalent of the man Gunners supporters call 'God'.
"Something has clicked," Pires told the club website as Ozil and Arsenal prepare for Saturday's live Sky Sports game at Manchester United. "What's happened in the head is like a click because he's scored a lot of goals.
"This is a difference between the last season with Mesut Ozil and now because he's thinking just for himself, and sometimes when you are in front of the target it is very important to score a goal.
"Mesut has very good qualities, he can normally score a minimum of 12 goals during the Premier League so in my time the maestro was Dennis Bergkamp, and now it is Mesut Ozil.
"I love them both because they play very good football but they play for the team. Not for himself, they play for the team. This point is very important for the future and of course for Arsenal."
Bergkamp scored 120 goals during his 11 years at Arsenal and won seen major honours with the club.
He won both major player-of-the-year awards in 1998 and came second on a list of Arsenal's 50 greatest players recently chosen by users of the club website.
