Sami Khedira claims Mesut Ozil has privately admitted that his decision to leave Real Madrid for Arsenal was a ‘serious mistake’.
Arsenal stunned their Premier League rivals by securing a surprise £42.5 million deal for Ozil on deadline day in September 2013.
Ozil, who became the third most-expensive signing in British football at the time behind Fernando Torres and Carlos Tevez, was widely regarded as one of the finest midfielders in Europe and a key part Madrid’s attack alongside Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Khedira was also part of that Madrid side having joined the Spanish club at the same time as Ozil after they both impressed for Germany at the 2010 World Cup.
And Khedira admits Madrid’s key players, including Ronaldo, Benzema and Sergio Ramos, who was vice-captain at the time, all questioned Florentino Perez’s decision to sell Ozil to Arsenal.
‘Everyone understands Cristiano. To win games, Cristiano was the man, because he never failed. He was always there. We needed a goal, so we passed the ball to Cristiano. But the most special player for me was Mesut Ozil,’ Khedira told Marca.
‘And I explain it with his departure. The day Mesut left, we were all saying to Florentino: “But why are you selling him?” But we all said it, right? Benzema, Cristiano, Ramos… Ozil was an absolute genius, he was a real magician.
‘I played behind him and you gave him a bad pass and he controlled the ball with ease… I have never seen a player with that class and that quality, really.’
Asked if he felt Ozil could have won the Ballon d’Or if he stayed at Madrid, Khedira said: ‘I don’t know, because there were Cristiano and Messi and also Xavi and Iniesta, who for me should have won a Ballon d’Or.
‘But yes, Ozil had that potential. And although he had a great career, it would have been different at Madrid.
‘And he told me that it was a serious mistake to leave Madrid, because he had everything here. The Bernabeu loved him, he played like an angel. Really, Mesut played like Zidane. My idol was Zizou and if you put both of them on YouTube and watch them… Mesut was like Zizou.’
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