Arsenal legend Alan Smith has insisted that Mathieu Flamini is just as valuable to the club as record signing Mesut Ozil.

The Frenchman picked up the Man of the Match award during the Gunners' 3-1 win over Stoke City on Sunday, in a game that saw the German play a part in all three goals.

Smith believes that Flamini, who rejoined Arsenal on a free transfer over the summer, has given the side some much-needed defensive steel.

"He did not cost £42m, he cannot change a game with an ingenious flick of the boot and there will never be crowds gathered outside the Emirates Stadium to pose in their Arsenal shirts with his name on the back," Smith told The Telegraph. "Nevertheless, Mathieu Flamini is just as valuable to his team right now as Mesut Ozil, the superstar signing who has generated so much excitement in London N5.

"Yes, Ozil had a hand in all three goals against Stoke City with his accurate corner and free kick deliveries. It is so easy to admire a talent like that, even though there is much more to come from the little German. But football is about balance and contrasts, about doing the dirty work as well as taking the glory. In this regard, Flamini is perfectly suited, just as he was perfectly suited to this hard-fought contest that never quite found a pattern or shape.

"You could see it from his body language – the Frenchman is loving the specific role assigned to him just now, the one that requires him to sit stoically in front of the back four, to put in a foot or two, to block off a runner, to generally act as a human shield."

Flamini initially joined Arsenal in 2004 before leaving to move to AC Milan four years later.