Mesut Ozil reveals why he chose Real Madrid over Barcelona in 2010 | OneFootball

Mesut Ozil in his prime was one of the best footballers in the world. For three seasons between 2010 and 2013, he treated Real Madrid fans to some magical moments on the field as the side’s creator-in-chief.

In his three years at the Spanish capital, Ozil made 159 appearances for Los Blancos, scoring 27 goals in the process. Further, he won a La Liga title, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super cup with the side.

The German international spoke to MARCA in depth after announcing his retirement earlier this week. During that conversation, he made a shocking revelation about his move to Real Madrid and how it transpired.

“I was between Madrid and Barça. The difference was Mou. He gave me a VIP visit, he took me to see all the facilities. With Barça it was disappointing, Pep didn’t even come to meet me. I really liked Barça’s style, I wanted to play for them, but Mou changed everything,” Ozil said.

The Portuguese manager’s drive to bring home the midfielder paid great dividends in the seasons to come for the Merengues. Ozil went on to be known as an ‘assist machine’ for his defence-splitting passes and left a special mark at Santiago Bernabeu.

The midfielder recorded a whopping 122 assists between 2008 and 2018, a record only bettered by Lionel Messi. Notably, Ozil recorded 47 assists in his three years in Spain and produced at least 12 assists for five successive seasons between 2008 and 2013.

The 34-year-old last played for Basaksehir FK in the Super Lig but made only four appearances all season with an average of 20 minutes per game. He made his final appearance against Kayserispor on the 2nd of February and announced his retirement two days ago.