The Story of Mesut Özil
Mesut Özil has had a rollercoaster of a career at club and international level. With a World Cup medal, La Liga Title, 3 English FA Cups, a Spanish Cup and a German Cup, the midfielder’s trophy cabinet is hardly empty. But on the other end of his illustrious résumé is a side marred by betrayal and isolation.
The First Half
The Turkish-German footballer began his senior career at German side Schalke 04 in 2006 at the age of 18. His performances had him dubbed as “the next big thing” before he fell out with management over his salary during contract negotiations. This resulted in then-manager Mirko Slomca claiming that Özil would never play football for Schalke again.
In 2008, he completed a €5 million move to Werder Bremen, where his creative style of play, as well as his ability to dribble with speed and agility, brought him 3 goals and 15 assists. Although Bremen finished 10th in their 08/09 campaign Özil’s aptitude for creating goal scoring opportunities led them to the final of the EUFA Cup (now called the Europa League) where they lost to Shakhtar Donetsk. He picked up the DFB-Pokal Cup with Bremen that same season. On the international stage, Özil made his senior debut for Germany in February 2009 after working his way up the ranks from the U17 and U21 teams.
The 09/10 season saw Özil drive Bremen to a third place finish with 9 goals and 17 assists. He was also instrumental to Germany’s 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign, providing vital goals and assists in marquee performances against England and Argentina. As he captured the attention of clubs all over the world he cemented his reputation as a key and decisive passer.
“My technique and feeling for the ball is the Turkish side to my game. The discipline, attitude and always-give-your-all is the German part.”
This earned him a €15 million move to Spanish giants Real Madrid in 2010. Initially thought to have been a back up option for Brazilian playmaker Kaka, injuries allowed Özil to take his place. He went on to demonstrate his versatility in the midfield, drifting from deep to wide positions and often found himself in advanced attacking roles. This translated to a record breaking 25 assists in the 10/11 campaign, 17 assists in 11/12 and 26 assists in 12/13, making him the lead assister in Spain for 3 years in a row. He also picked up a La Liga title (11/12), a Copa Del Rey (10/11), and a Super Spanish Cup (12/13) during his time at Real Madrid.
At EURO 2012 Özil managed to pick up two Man of the Match awards as he helped Germany navigate through the “Group of Death”, consisting of Portugal, Netherlands, and Denmark. They eventually lost 2–1 to Italy in the semi finals.
In 2013, Özil joined English team Arsenal FC for an undisclosed fee, thought to be around €50 million (as per contract leaks), making him the most expensive German football player of all time. A lack of faith from Real Madrid’s management prompted the move, as a consensual dialogue between Özil and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger took place. Many Real Madrid player’s made their dissatisfaction with Özil’s transfer publicly known, including former team mate Cristiano Ronaldo.
a ‘technically perfect’ footballer — Ruud Gullit
His first season at Arsenal saw him score 7 goals and earn 13 assists. Although he struggled at times with the physical demands of English Football he put in some key performances and helped Arsenal win the FA Cup (13/14), their first trophy in 9 years.
In the lead up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Özil was Germany’s top scorer in the qualifying stages with 8 goals. Although he played most of the competition out of position as a left winger he managed to score the deciding goal against Algeria in the Round of 16. Germany’s 7–1 semi final win over Brazil showcased the teams abundance of talent, and of course they went on to win the competition.
After being sidelined for 3 months with a knee injury, Özil was able to put together 5 goals and 9 assists for Arsenal during the 14/15 campaign, as well as win a second FA Cup in as many years.
“Özil is unique. There is no copy of him — not even a bad copy” — Jose Mourinho
The Second Half
In Arsenal’s 15/16 campaign Özil flourished despite the club beginning to crumble yet again under Arsène Wenger. The club’s stretch of goal-less games and successive competition exits didn't stop the midfielder from registering 8 goals and 20 assists (the most assists from a player in the premier league that year).
16/17 saw Özil score 12 goals and make 13 assists, as well as collect a third FA Cup with Arsenal. The 17/18 ended with 5 goals and 13 assists for the midfielder. This was also the year contract negotiations began as Özil was in his final year. The German was made the highest paid Arsenal player in history and rewarded with a £350,000 per week contract.
The 18/19 season saw new Arsenal manger Unai Emery publicly question Özil’s motivation, after a string of poor performances. Many of these performances highlighted the players shortcomings as a low work rate player, resulting in being branded as “lazy” by fans and pundits. Özil’s reluctance to take part in his defensive duties led to being left of out of the team on several occasions as his relationship with Emery grew more and more frustrating. This was statistically his worse season, ending in 6 goals and 4 assists.
In 2018, a picture with Turkish president Recep Tayyp Erdogan, just before the Turkish general election, led many to believe the footballer had endorsed the politician and advocated for his policies, as opposed to the players claim that it was a show of respect for the highest official of the country, over a mutual interest in football. Germans questioned his loyalty and accused him of being disrespectful. As a form of protest for being lambasted by the media, teammates and the German Football Association (DFB), he retired from international football. Özil believed the accusations were rooted in racial biases. He did however draw support from former teammate Per Mertesacker.
In 2019, Özil tweeted a poem addressing the lack of support for the treatment of Uighur Muslims in China. Uighur’s being a Turkish ethnic group being subject to oppressive policies that punish them for practicing their religious and cultural activities. As Arsenal were publicly silent on the issue, many believed that Özil’s exclusion from games was a form of punishment by the English club for involving himself in politics. When the football season was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Arsenal fans were generally critical of Özil’s alleged refusal of a 12.5% pay cut. He was subsequently left out of the official squad lists for the 20/21 Europa League and Premier League season.
The footballer spent the first part of the 20/21 season showing support for his Arsenal teammates through social media. Although he did express deep disappointment in being omitted from the squad list.
In January 2021, Arsenal and Mesut Özil decided to prematurely terminate their contract, coming to some sort of financial agreement, as the player’s remaining 6 months would have seen him receive around £8 million in wages and incentives.
As he begins his new journey at Fenerbahçe (Turkey), hopefully he takes the opportunity to return back to his prolific ways of entertaining football, and finds the joy and fulfilment he felt in his former years.
