Unai Emery hailed Mesut Ozil for delivering for Arsenal when they needed him as the German put speculation over his future to one side to inspire the Gunners to a 3-1 victory over Burnley.

A brilliant pre-assist for Arsenal’s opener, taking anywhere between six and nine Burnley players out of the game with a top-spinning pass to Sead Kolasinac who teed up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, set the tone for a decisive display from Ozil in his first Premier League start since November 11.

Ozil would also play a crucial role in Arsenal’s decisive third goal, where his shot deflected into the path of Alex Iwobi.

Displays like these belied the tactical reasons that led Emery to leave his best-paid player out of the match day squad for the midweek EFL Cup defeat to Tottenham.

Inevitably that led to further speculation about Ozil’s future and though Arsenal would seriously entertain any bid that came their way it is not clear which clubs have both the capacity and willingness to meet the 30-year-old’s £350,000-a-week wages.

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Following the derby defeat Emery did little to ease debate over what role the languid playmaker could have in his energetic side but before handing him the captain's armband against Burnley he insisted Arsenal “need Ozil”. He was proven right.

Emery said: “It was a very good response. He played like we need today.

“His skills, his commitment was very good. He helped us. I said we needed Mesut Ozil and today he was there for us.”

The Arsenal head coach added: “We worked on and spoke about how we can break their lines today, how we can attack their space.

“I think Mesut for this is good. He found the best solution in the attacking moment a lot of times.”

Ozil’s grace might have stood out anyway but there was little else of much elegance in a full-blooded affair that ended with Burnley boss Sean Dyche suggesting Arsenal bore some responsibility for “millions of children” diving so as to emulate their heroes.

If Dyche was unimpressed by Arsenal’s simulation Emery was no less pleased with the robust nature of some of Burnley’s challenges on his players, who he praised for riding out the physical force of their opponents.

“They are an aggressive team with one characteristic that is very clear in the game plan,” Emery said. “But we have respect and we need to adapt in this moment for the long ball, the second action.

“They are more physical than us, that is normal. But we knew this situation in the game and we wanted to impose our moment with possession of the ball , with positioning on the pitch, with keeping the ball and progress with combinations, attacking the space in the first half.

“But we know that when they are with the ball they start with long balls and we needed to adapt to these moments on them.

“They are a very good team, organised, he [Dyche] is a good coach. But we need to play in our moments. But physically it is normal they are stronger than us.

“We worked very well. I am very happy with the players. The commitment is very good. We needed some players to change their positions in the set up, [Granit] Xhaka played the second half as a centre-back, [Stephan] Lichtsteiner played as a centre back and i think the commitment was very good.”