Mesut Özil

What a difference a week makes. Just seven days ago, Mesut Özil was at the centre of a heated debate following his decision to retire from the German national football team. There were critics, supporters, and those who were simply too stunned to formulate an opinion. But at the National Stadium in Singapore last night, all the 29-year-old received was pure love and affection. Özil, who captained Arsenal, won the hearts of the 50,308-strong crowd (a majority of whom were Arsenal fans) as he put in an inspired display to help the Gunners defeat Paris Saint Germain 5-1 in their…

Mesut Özil is fully focused on the upcoming Premier League season with Arsenal, despite being caught in the centre of a raging debate following his retirement from international football on Sunday night. That was the view of former Gunners midfielder Ray Parlour, who is currently in Singapore in his role as a club ambassador for the International Champions Cup (ICC). Özil cited “racism and disrespect” shown towards him by the German Football Association (DFB) as the main reason behind his retirement in a lengthy, no-holds-barred statement released on his various social media pages. This led to widespread concerns that the…