Ozil can be 'new Bergkamp'

The plaudits - and predictions - have come thick and fast for Mesut Ozil since his 42.5 million pounds move from Real Madrid to Arsenal but Arsene Wenger has offered up potentially the most impressive comparison of all. According to his manager, Ozil can become the new Dennis Bergkamp at the Emirates Stadium. "Yes, he is a similar type," Wenger agreed before Sunday's Premier League encounter with Stoke City, which will mark a home debut for Ozil.

"Dennis was maybe more prolific. Dennis was first a striker but he created as well. But Dennis's evolution through his career was an adaptation to his physical qualities. When he couldn't score any more he became a great provider. "I think Ozil, at the start, has more a midfielder's mentality and Dennis, at the start, had more a striker's mentality. But he [Ozil] can score, yes."

Wenger has likened the two players before - but only when expressing the hope that Ozil's arrival, for a club-record fee, could have a similar effect to the signing of Bergkamp from Inter Milan for 7.5 million pounds in 1995.

"They are big names who come from big teams," Wenger had observed, with the acquisition of Bergkamp helping transform Arsenal into a force in European football. It was a hugely significant moment in the club's recent history: not only did Bergkamp have incredible ability, but his signing had symbolic value and a ripple effect in terms of attracting more talent. Now Wenger is even considering a comparison in the pair's playing style, and particularly in the way that Bergkamp changed during the latter part of his illustrious 11-year career with Arsenal, as he dropped into a deeper role.

In 2008, Bergkamp was voted second in a supporters' poll to find the club's 50 greatest players, behind only Thierry Henry - who, of course, thrived off the service delivered by the Dutchman. Ozil's importance for Arsenal is all the greater because, Wenger argued, football has changed, not least in the Premier League, where there is now a dearth of traditional centre-forwards. It makes the deployment of 'No10s' - playmakers behind a striker - all the more vital: players such as Philipe Coutinho at Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur's Christian Eriksen, David Silva at Manchester City and, of course, Ozil.

"You need more players who can create that special opening and I believe that Europe uses fewer strikers than before," Wenger said. "If you look at the number of strikers who have been sold during the summer, most of them are South American. "If you compare England today with 20 or 30 years ago I would say the main difference for me is that you have no strikers any more in a country that produced so many.

Why? Because we have developed more the technical game and the guy who delivers this kind of ball is even more important. "Before you got the cross in and you had a guy who jumped above everybody to head the ball in. Today you have to find him through little pockets and that is why this player [the No10] becomes even more important because the creative aspect needed is higher." Bergkamp, it could be argued, was instrumental in that evolution, dropping off into the "little pockets" that Wenger talked about, although conversely Arsenal are now employing a striker with those more traditional attributes as well in Olivier Giroud.

The Frenchman has scored five times in seven appearances this season, and has become an increasingly important player. With his "physical presence, technique and charisma" Giroud is the "type of striker who is difficult to find nowadays", Wenger said.

Giroud has become an even more precious player to Wenger and his team given Arsenal failed in another of their summer intentions - to secure a top-class striker. They had pursued both Luis Suarez and Gonzalo Higuain and were then denied the chance to sign Chelsea's Demba Ba on loan. Not that Arsenal have suffered.

With three victories in the Premier League, following the opening-day defeat against Aston Villa, and a strong start to their Champions League campaign, Wenger's team appear to have quickly arrested fears of another early-season crisis. One of the few concerns has been the form of Jack Wilshere, with Wenger conceding that the 21-year-old midfielder has yet to return to his best since his long injury lay-off.

"For Jack I think it is more of a fitness problem than anything else and that will come back," Wenger said. "Fitness-wise Jack is between 80 to 90 per cent of his potential. As for the rest, he has not a lot to learn - he understands the game, is technically good, can play everywhere - defensive midfielder, offensive midfielder. He's a complete player, Jack."