Mesut Özil

Mesut Özil (, ; born 15 October 1988) is a German former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

Known for his technical skills, creativity, passing skills, and vision, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders and playmakers of his generation.

He could also play as a wide midfielder.

Özil was born on 15 October 1988 in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, as a son of Turkish immigrants.

His grandfather moved as a Gastarbeiter from Zonguldak, Turkey to Germany.

He played, at youth level, for various clubs in Gelsenkirchen during 1995–2000, before a five-year stint for Rot-Weiss Essen.

In 2005, Özil moved to the youth system of Schalke 04.

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 DFL-Ligapokal matches against Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.

Upon making the first team at Schalke, he was described as "the next big thing".

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.

Born and raised in Gelsenkirchen, Özil began his senior club career playing for hometown club Schalke 04, before signing with Werder Bremen in 2008, aged 19.

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.

This led to Mirko Slomka, the then-Schalke manager, claiming that Özil would not play another match for Schalke.

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.

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 first Bundesliga goal.

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.

He made his senior debut for the Germany national team in 2009 at age 20, and appeared in five major tournaments.

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.

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.

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.

During the 2009–10 season, Özil was also declared as the "best player of the first half of the season".

After winning the DFB-Pokal in his first season, his individual performances led to a move to Real Madrid in 2010.

There, he helped the club win a La Liga title, and ranked first in league assists for three straight seasons.

He was the top assist provider at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012, where he helped Germany twice reach the semi-final.

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.

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.

Due to his performances in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Özil ensured his place among Europe's top young talents.

He was sought by teams like Barcelona, Arsenal and Real Madrid.

English striker Wayne Rooney was one of the many admirers Özil had garnered with his performances in the World Cup, and had even asked Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson to sign the German playmaker.

There were reports claiming that a deal was struck for a transfer to Barcelona, but Werder Bremen denied the reports and on 17 August 2010, the team announced that they had reached an agreement with Real Madrid for Özil's transfer.

The transfer fee is believed to have been in the region of €15 million.

In 2013, Özil was the subject of a then-club record association football transfer when he signed for Arsenal in a transfer worth up to £42.5 million (€50 million), becoming the most expensive German player ever at the time.

In England, he won three FA Cups and helped end Arsenal's nine-year trophy drought, while recording the second most assists ever (19) in a Premier League season.

In 2021, Özil joined Fenerbahçe on a free transfer; after his contract with the club was terminated in 2022, he signed with İstanbul Başakşehir, before retiring in 2023.

A German international for over nine years, Özil holds the record for the most German National Team Player of the Year awards (5).

Özil helped Germany win the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but retired from international competition in 2018, alleging discrimination and disrespect by the German Football Association (DFB) and the German media.