Arsenal: Arsene Wenger bemused at Mesut Ozil not making PFA Team of the Year

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that he is bemused over the fact that Mesut Ozil is not in the PFA Team of the Year despite having the maximum number of assists in the campaign from any team. The German has picked up 18 assists in the league, only two shy of beating Thierry Henry's record of 20 which he picked up with Arsenal.

Ozil also scored six goals which meant that he was involved directly in the scoring of 24 goals, more than Dimitri Payet and Dele Ali, who were both chosen ahead of the 27-year-old in the players' choice for Team of the Year. The former Real Madrid man has also created 131 chances this season, more than any other player in the league, which makes his omission from the XI that much more surprising.

The Gunners were heavily involved in the title challenge in the first half of the season but fell away since the turn of the year, as has been a regular feature for the Gunners over the past decade. The north London were not helped by the profligacy of their strikers in front of goal, which also had a major part to play in Ozil's failure to pick up more assists in the second half of the season.

However, Wenger believes that despite Arsenal's failure to make more of their chances to beat the likes of Tottenham and Leicester City, Ozil's name should have been there along with the outstanding players of the season.

"It's a surprise for me," Wenger told Arsenal's official website. "I cannot explain it, because it's the players who vote. I don't know why they did not pick him. Yeah [he deserves to be in the team]. When you are top of the assists, usually that's a sign of quality that should get you a place in a top team."