Biography of Massoud Ozil, a German player on Wikipedia

Mesut Özil (German pronunciation: [ˈmeːzut ˈøːzil], Turkish: [meˈsut ˈøzil]; born 15 October 1988) is a German professional footballerwho plays for English club Arsenal and the Germany national team.

Özil plays mostly as an attacking midfielder, but can also be deployed as a winger. He began his senior career as a member of his hometown club Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga, departing two seasons later to join Werder Bremen for €5 million. He garnered break-out attention at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where at age 22, Özil was instrumental in the side’s campaign where they reached the semi-finals, losing to eventual champions Spain. He was also nominated for the Golden Ball Award, as well as being ranked first in assists in major European and domestic competitions with 25.^[4] This garnered him a €15 million transfer to La Liga club Real Madrid.

At Madrid, Özil won the Copa del Rey in his first season, before registering a league high 17 assists as the Spanish side won the league title in the following season.^[5] He also won the Supercopa de España in the same season, becoming renowned for his technical skills and creativity; due to his agility, finesse and versatility as an attacking midfielder, he has also been compared to Zinedine Zidane by former manager José Mourinho.^[6]

Following a second-place La Liga finish to rivals Barcelona in the 2012–13 season, Özil relocated to England to join Premier Leagueside Arsenal in a then club-record deal worth £42.5 million (€50 million),^[7] making him the most expensive German player of all time.^[8][9] During his first season, Özil helped end the club’s largely publicised nine-year trophy drought, winning the FA Cup in 2014. He later became victorious in two more FA Cup campaigns, while also winning the FA Community Shield. Özil would also tie the league assist record (19) in 2014–15, as well as being named in multiple teams of the season in England.

At international level, Özil has played 86 matches for the Germany national team, scoring 22 goals. He represented his country in two FIFA World Cups, as well as two UEFA European Championships, and was an integral part in both the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012 team in South Africa and Ukraine, starring as the joint-highest assist provider in the competitions. Özil also contributed as a part of the 2014 World Cup-winning side in Brazil, with his versatility aiding in his nation’s triumph in a 1–0 victory over Argentina in the final.

Schalke 04

After plying his trade at youth level for various clubs in Gelsenkirchen, including a five-year stint for Rot-Weiss Essen, Özil moved to the youth system of Schalke 04 in 2005. He was deployed a midfielder and wore 17 as his squad number, after starting as a playmaker and central attacking midfielder in the place of the suspended Lincoln in Ligapokal matches against Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.^[10] Upon making the first team at Schalke, he was described as “the next big thing”. However, soon after declining an offer from Schalke 04, claiming that a yearly salary of €1.5 million would not be enough, he eventually fell out with club management and moved on to Werder Bremen in January 2008.^[11]This led to Mirko Slomka, the then-Schalke 04 manager, claiming that Özil would not play another match for Schalke 04.^[12]

Werder Bremen

On 31 January 2008, Özil moved to Werder Bremen for a reported fee of €5 million, signing a contract with the German club until 30 June 2011. Other than Werder Bremen, Hannover 96 and VfB Stuttgart were reportedly interested as well in binding Özil to their respective clubs, however did not want to pay such a high transfer fee.^[13] After transferring to Werder Bremen, Özil got the jersey number 11. On 26 April 2008 (30th match day) Özil scored the go-ahead goal in the 33rd minute against Karlsruher SC, to put his team up 2–1. This was Özil’s very first Bundesliga goal. He played in twelve games throughout the second half of the season, six times playing in the starting formation, becoming second with Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga at the end of the 2007–08 season.

Although Bremen failed to get going in their 2008–09 Bundesliga season, eventually finishing a disappointing tenth, Özil managed to make a significant impact in most games and came away with a respectable three goals and 15 assists that highlighted his attacking credentials.^[14] He helped lead the North German club to the 2009 DFB-Pokal with the winning goal in a 1–0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in Berlin.^[15] He also excelled in Europe where he led Werder Bremen to the final of the last ever UEFA Cup, losing out to Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine.^[14]

In the 2009–10 season, Özil became the key playmaker of Werder Bremen, stepping into the shoes of Brazilian Diego who had left for Juventus, was named the best player of the first leg of the 2009 Bundesliga season.^[16] On 1 May 2010, the 33rd match day, Özil played his 100th Bundesliga game, scoring the 1–0 lead in a 2–0 win against his former club Schalke 04. Özil went on and led Werder Bremen to become third in the league and again to the DFB-Pokal final, however this time it was lost against Bayern Munich by 0–4. In his second season, Bremen finished a respectable third, with Özil contributing 9 goals and 17 assists in 31 league fixture appearances. During the 2009–10 season, Özil was also declared as the “best player of the first half of the season”.^[17]