Premier League 2019/20: Ranking the top 10 playmakers heading into the new season

#5 Mesut Ozil (Arsenal)

Ozil has seen a decline in his output in recent years

Mesut Ozil finds himself ranking this high owing to what he did in the past and what we all know he is capable of still doing, rather than what he has done in recent years.

Mesut Ozil signed for Arsenal in the summer of 2013 for a club record fee, arriving with the reputation of being arguably the best playmaker in the world at the time, and his performances in the first few years of his Arsenal career went some way in justifying the huge amount expended to get him.

The former Real Madrid player sparked into life during the course of the 2015/2016 season, and looked primed to break Thierry Henry's long-standing record of 21 for most assists in a single Premier League season, but even though Ozil fell short, his total of 19 was still impressive enough.

However, since then, the ex-German international has fallen off the radar, contributing next to nothing to the Arsenal cause and giving off the attitude of someone who is disinterested in the club despite being one of the best paid players in the league.

Nevertheless, one his day, Mesut Ozil is easily one of the best passers of the ball, possessing a vision that few in the world can match, and having the ability to thread through balls effortlessly into spaces no one else can see.

His all-time Premier League record of 52 assists and 32 goals from 166 Premier League appearances is indicative of his pristine abilities, and this is also backed up by the 199 through balls and 64 big chances he has created in the same timeframe.

Having been linked with a move away from the Emirates, Ozil made it explicitly clear that he was going nowhere and indeed returned to training earlier than others in a bid to force his way back into Emery's reckoning.

Mesut Ozil impressed during preseason, and with the dream forward line of Aubameyang, Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe in front of him, the coming season could yet see Ozil deliver on the levels we know he is capable of.