GRANIT XHAKA believes Mesut Ozil is committed to Arsenal’s cause — and hopes his return from the wilderness will spark a glorious finale.
Ozil has made only two starts in 11 games for the Gunners since Christmas.
His absence – blamed on a combination of injury and illness – has angered boss Unai Emery, who refuses to confirm if the German will feature heavily in his plans for the remainder of this season.
Arsenal are a point behind Manchester United in the race for fourth place and will leapfrog them if they topple Southampton at the Emirates today and United fail to beat Liverpool.
The North London club are also only six matches away from reaching the Europa League final in Baku.
Asked if Ozil could propel Arsenal to glory on two fronts, Xhaka said: “I hope so, yeah.
“It’s good to see Mesut back as well as the other players who were not in the squad last week.
“Mesut is important for us on and off the pitch. We are happy he is back.
“He was a bit injured and a bit sick in the last few weeks. But he is now 100 per cent back.
“Mesut helps the team a lot. He has good eyes, a good left foot. You can see when he is on the pitch, he can help us a lot.”
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Why are there no Premier League games on this weekend and when does it return?
6There have been plenty of moans and groans from fans about Emery’s management — mainly on social media accounts.
Some fans called for him to go, even though he has been in charge for only 39 matches since replacing Arsene Wenger last May.
Arsenal lost their opening two games this season but then went on a 22-match unbeaten run across all competitions before being beaten by today’s opponents on the south coast.
Xhaka, 26, admits that undefeated run might have led to misleading assessments about the true potential of the side and raised expectations unnecessarily.
But the combative midfielder told the sceptics it is important Spaniard Emery is given sufficient time to implement his methods and ideas.
The Swiss star said: “Of course, it’s not so easy for him. He needs time. He needs to learn better and better and better.
“But I think we work very well with him and all the players are happy.
“If you remember, after the first two games we were six points behind Chelsea.
“We were not so good. But now we are one point behind Manchester United, who are in a good moment.
“If you are honest, if you watch the 22 games where we were unbeaten, we were lucky as well. But that is football.
“We want to be in the top four at the end of the season and to go to the Europa League final.
“And if someone had asked me: ‘What do you want?’ well, both are the best, yes.
“We now have important weeks in front of us — with Southampton and Bournemouth at home and then Tottenham away.
“Then the European games, as well as Manchester United. It’s a time where you can see the way we are going.”
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