August 19, 2010
LIGA BBVA – Ozil leaves Werder Bremen
German World Cup sensation, Mesut Ozil, has reached an agreement with Real Madrid for the next six years.
By Andrew Hill
Real Madrid keeps overpopulating its midfield, after signing Spaniards Canales and Pedro Leon, Argentinean Di Maria, and German Khedira, now they have made it official that Mesut Ozil will be under Jose Mourinho’s orders for this season. These new names, added to the eight that were already in the club, makes things even tougher and more competitive for one spot in the starting line up.
The 21-year-old left midfielder, whose contract with Werder Bremen expired this season, will play for Real Madrid during the next six years. The Germans will receive about 15 millions Euros, which is really good for them, since the player wasn’t going to renew his contract and could have end up leaving for free next year. This way, the three parties win: the Germans get money that they could have lost, Real Madrid gets who they wanted, and Ozil will continue to grow in one of the biggest teams in the world.
He is called to be the playmaker of the team during Kaka’s absence, who will be out for at least three more months, and compete with Van der Vaart for that position. His great performance in the past World Cup, where he was one of the best players in the competition, and was even nominated for the Golden Ball Award, earned him the interest from Manchester United and Real Madrid. Finally it was the Spanish team who was able to sign the player after the initial refusal from Werder Bremen to sell its star.
For Mourinho, Ozil was an opportunity that they couldn’t let go because his contract was about to expire, so it made his price lower than what it could really have cost under other circumstances.
Ozil began his senior career playing for Schalke 04 from 2006 through 2008, and then was transferred to Werder Bremen for a 4.3 million Euros deal. Representing Germany, he joined the national team back in 2006, when he played for the U19, then on 2007 for the U21, and finally the senior team in 2009. With just 21 years he has already participated in one World Cup, and played a hundred games in the Bundesliga, numbers that talk for themselves.
For Mourinho, Ozil was an opportunity that they couldn’t let go because his contract was about to expire, so it made his price lower than what it could really have cost under other circumstances. Besides the cost, Mourinho also considered Ozil’s ability to adapt to different positions in the midfield. For example, in his beginnings in Werder Bremen he played on the left side, then he did it as a playmaker and with Germany he had a somewhat different role. He describes Ozil as a: “creative players and it is always good to have players like him available”.
Take over
The Portuguese coach, Jose Mourinho, has conquered every league where he has coached: Portugal, England, Italy, and now it is the turn for Spain. He has the task of leading Real Madrid back to their victorious days, and to do so, the six new players signed this year will play an important role in the team’s destiny. Ending this season without titles would be a total failure for them, but with Mourinho in charge such a scenario is unlikely to happen.
About the Author
Andrew Hill has been a prominent writer on regular International Football games, sports news and the sports betting industry for many exceptional sports web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.