Mesut Özil wants the #10 shirt

As we all know, Jack Wilshere just went on loan to Bournemouth. Good for him, and good for his development. What didn’t go on loan, though, was his shirt number - his number 10 is vacant right now, but won’t be for long, if a certain ice cream loving German has anything to say about it:

'It just went free, and I definitely want it,' said Özil when he was asked about the Arsenal No 10 shirt in an interview with German newspaper Express.

Özil just claimed the #10 shirt for Germany - also from an ex-Gunner, Lukas Podolski, coincidentally enough - and now he wants it for Arsenal, claiming not only that it fits his position as a “play maker”, but also that it has a proud heritage he wants to be a part of:

'It's my favourite number. Football legends like Zinedine Zidane, Diego Maradona and Pele wore that number on their backs. I'm really very happy to have it.'

All of this, of course is precursor to Özil signing a DP contract with LAFC in a few years, as he said:

he could 'definitely' imagine playing in the United States before his career was up.

'My fans know I like to spend my holidays in Los Angeles. It's an exciting city - one of my favourites.'

I kid. It’s actually a precursor to him hopefully signing a new contract with Arsenal that will extend him beyond 2018; he did say he wouldn’t mind playing in LA, but that’s not his priority now. His priority now is to help Arsenal win a championship - hopefully wearing the #10 shirt.