Does Loyalty Exist?
I think it is about time that fans face the reality that loyalty does not exist in sports. This week Arsenal’s longest serving player Mesut Ozil will leave the club to sign for his boyhood football club Fenerbache. Personally, this has created a lot of mixed feelings as I have been an Ozil fan since I watched him play for Germany against Australia at the 2010 World Cup but I also must be honest with myself and everybody else when I say Ozil’s performances have not been up to scratch in the last couple of years. But I have been very disappointed in the treatment of Ozil, mainly because I do not believe it was a decision made based on football alone but that is a conversation for another day.
Ozil’s situation has brought up the conversation of loyalty in sports in my mind. Ozil came to Arsenal at a time when they were struggling to attract top players and his arrival brought so much excitement to a fanbase that had been starved off top-quality signing. Unlike his running mate Alexis Sanchez, Ozil would later sign a contract even though he had other offers on the table. Sanchez was blasted by fans for his lack of loyalty to Arsenal while Ozil was praised for staying. A couple of years later he was frozen out by Arsenal and essentially released before his contract was finished and many understand this to be a business decision to get Ozil’s wages off the books. My question is did Arsenal not owe Ozil the same…
