Arsenal are better off without ‘luxury’ Mesut Ozil, says Sky Sports pundit Phil Babb who has sighted the fact that the Gunners have won more games without the German in their side.

Ozil has less than one year remaining on his current Arsenal deal, and there is no indication that the midfielder will sign an extension. There have been several reports of him agreeing deals with various clubs, but nothing concrete has been done yet.

Either way, Babb believes that Ozil’s work rate is not good enough, and Wenger’s side is better off without him in it.

“This is my personal opinion, I think Ozil is a luxury player,” he said on Sky Sports News.

“I think in the modern-day Premier League you need work-rate, you need pace.”

“Ozil plays and strolls around the pitch in his own fashion.”

“Yeah, technically very, very gifted but I think you have to play at a certain intensity. So he’s a bit of a luxury player.”

“Take him out of the side, put someone else in that’s got a little bit more energy.”

“The proof’s in the pudding isn’t it, they’ve won more games without him in the side.”

Ozil is still recovering from injury and missed this weeks international break. He could be in line to start against Watford this weekend, but it is unlikely given his lack of match fitness.