Mesut Ozil’s electric start to the 2016-17 season is down to Arsene Wenger’s encouragement to help him reach new heights.

The German international has scored seven times – including the first hat-trick of his senior career – which has both player and manager hoping for a sustained presence at the top of the table.

And while Ozil is pleased with his form, the World Cup-winner has revealed the role played by Wenger in his early-season promise. 

‘The manager wants me to score lots of goals,’ he told Arsenal Player.

‘He sees in training that when I have a chance, the ball mostly goes in.

‘When we train on finishing, he sees that I score lots of goals. He knows that I’m ice-cold in front of goal and he wants to see that in matches.

‘I’m doing that now – I go forward and, while I haven’t changed my game, I’m focusing on scoring goals myself too.

‘Every year he comes to me and says, “You need to score more than 10 goals this season – that needs to be your aim because you have the quality.” I’m trying to take that on.’

When the Premier League resumes, Ozil and his Arsenal teammates travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United.