Mesut Özil, known to his fans as the “Assist King”, has recently announced his retirement from professional football. Ozil is widely recognized as one of the most creative and technically gifted attacking midfielders of his generation. He began his professional career with Schalke 04 and made his debut in 2006, but it was his time at Werder Bremen that earned him a reputation, winning the DFB-Pokal and being named the Bundesliga’s best midfielder in 2010. He then moved to Real Madrid. In 2010, where he won the La Liga title, the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey, he cemented his status as a star player.
READ MORE: What is Leandro Trossard’s Net worth, Salary, Transfer fee and Advertisement?
In 2013, Mesut Ozil transferred from Real Madrid to Arsenal for a club-record fee of £42.5 million, following a successful stint in Madrid that lasted three seasons. At Arsenal, he quickly became a fans’ favourite, helping the club end a nine-year trophy drought by winning the FA Cup in his first season. Ozil was a key player for Arsenal over the next few years, making valuable contributions with a number of assists and goals, which played a role in the club’s success in winning two more FA Cups. Additionally, Ozil was a key member of the German national team and played a key role in their 2014 World Cup victory.
Despite making a promising start at Arsenal, Mesut Ozil’s career gradually declined towards the end of his time at the club. He lost favor with new manager Unai Emery and was subsequently ousted by his successor, Mikel Arteta. In January 2021, Ozil left Arsenal and joined Fenerbahçe on a free transfer, effectively ending his seven-and-a-half-year spell at the club. Throughout his career, Özil was renowned for his exceptional vision, creativity and technical proficiency on the ball. He was the recipient of many individual accolades and was widely recognized as one of the most outstanding attacking midfielders in the world during his peak years.
Here are the top 5 moments of his career:
winning the 2014 fifa world cup
Ozil played a key role in Germany’s victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. He played a key role throughout the tournament and also scored a goal against Algeria in the round of 16, helping Germany advance to the next round and eventually win their fourth World Cup.
Unforgettable support for Cristiano Ronaldo in Clasico
In August 2010, Ozil made a high-profile transfer from Werder Bremen to Spanish giants Real Madrid. He quickly became a fans’ favorite at Los Blancos, scoring 27 goals and providing 81 assists for his teammates. However, Ozil will always be remembered for his brilliant assist to Cristiano Ronaldo, which helped Real Madrid win 2–1 at the Camp Nou, helping them clinch the La Liga title. He also won the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey with the team.
Winning the La Liga title with Real Madrid
During his time at Real Madrid, Ozil won the La Liga title in the 2011–12 season, where Real Madrid scored 100 points and scored 121 goals, they were one of the best counter-attacking teams in Europe at the time and arguably the best team in Europe that season. During that season, Ozil made 17 assists and scored 4 goals and was one of the best playmakers in the world.
winning the FA Cup with Arsenal
Ozil played a key role in Arsenal’s FA Cup triumph in 2014, providing the assist for the winning goal in the final against Hull City and helping the club end a nine-year trophy drought. Ozil played a key role in Arsenal’s success over the next few years, contributing several assists and goals as the team won two more FA Cups.
Equaled Thierry Henry’s assist record in 2015–16
Throughout his career, Ozil has been widely recognized as an expert at creating goal-scoring opportunities for his team, and he certainly lived up to this reputation during the 2015–16 Premier League season. He managed to record an impressive 20 assists, which not only matched the record set by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry during the 2002–03 season, but also earned him the coveted title of Arsenal’s Player of the Season.