If Henrikh Mkhitaryan is £23m, what’s Mesut Ozil?

Rumors have emerged that Arsenal will be looking for a whole £23m to sell Henrikh Mkhitaryan. That’s a lot. What does that mean for Mesut Ozil?

Henrikh Mkhitaryan really doesn’t want to come back to Arsenal, in case you haven’t noticed. He has been outspoken about how much he prefers his time at Roma and, if you look at the stats, it’s easy to see why. He’s producing a goal nearly twice as much as he did at the Emirates.

But he’s on loan, and the obstacle now becomes negotiating a price that both sides can agree on. According to the Gunners, that price is rumored to be a whole £23m.

I would be over the moon if we got that much for a 31-year-old that we would never use. Over the moon. The early reports of a £10m-ish bid seemed more likely and even then, I’d agree. Although I wouldn’t be excited.

That said, Mkhitaryan’s market valuation is just over £21m, so maybe Raul Sanllehi checked Transfermarkt before laying out the price. Whatever the case, I think this is a matter of us underselling out own players for so long that we’ve been jaded to think they aren’t nearly as valuable as they really are.

Which brings up the question of Mesut Ozil.

Also 31-years-old and with just a year left on his contract, exit rumors about the German are scarce and no price is ever mentioned, But is Sanllehi subscribes to the same barometer of determining price as he reportedly does for Mkhitaryan then Ozil should be going for just shy of £20m.

Good Lord, I’d piss my pants if we got that. Can you imagine if we got £43m for Ozil and Mkhitaryan? We could turn right around and spend that haul on Thomas Partey. We’d lose nothing vital to the club and pick up one of the most crucial signings of the decade.

That said, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. Asking prices and settling prices are rarely the same. At least in Mkhitaryan’s case, he’s proven himself a valuable part of Roma’s set-up. Ozil hasn’t been proving much of anything. His goal production is shoddy, his wages are astronomical and he retains that he doesn’t want to leave.

Still, a guy can dream, right? He is still Mesut Ozil, and that has to carry some kind of monetary value in the international footballing community. It just has to.