Bruce Rioch: Mesut Ozil cannot be compared to Dennis Bergkamp

Bruce RIoch shakes hands with Dennis Bergkamp after signing the player in 1995. (Getty Images)

Ex-Arsenal boss Bruce Rioch believes that there is no chance of a comparison between new signing Mesut Ozil and Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp, stating that the German International has not scored enough goals to do justice to the Dutchman.

Ozil became Arsenals record signing on Monday, with the London club shelling out £42.4m to secure his services from Real Madrid on the last day of the transfer window. The German has drawn comparisons to Bergkamp, who was signed from Italian giants Inter Milan in 1995 by Rioch.

Arsenal had set a club record when the signed Bergkamp too.

However, Rioch has stated that the two players are dissimilar, in spite of them being compared due to Arsenal breaking the bank for them.

Rioch told Sky Sports News Radio: “He (Ozil) is a very talented player and I think he suits the style that Arsenal have at this time. He’s what I would call a silky player, but he’s more of a creator than a goalscorer.

“To compare him to Dennis Bergkamp would be wrong because Dennis was a goal scorer as well as a creator, but it’s a huge signing.

“He’s a one in six goal scorer but he is a creator. He’s very silky, very clever on the ball and has a high ratio of assists, that’s what he brings to the club.

“But you’ve got to have goal scorers and that’s the key for Arsenal. For what he (Ozil) creates, can they finish?”

Rioch insisted that Arsenal need a goal scorer in order to be a force to reckon with in the Premiere League.

“They’re definitely a top-four team,” Rioch said. “If they had Thierry Henry or Ian Wright in their team I’d say they’d be a top-two team, but it’s the goals.

“You’ve got to be scoring around 80 goals a season on a regular basis and I just wonder whether they’ve got enough strikers at the club to score those goals.”