87 Facts About Mesut Ozil

Mesut Ozil is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Super Lig club Istanbul Basaksehir.

In 2013, Mesut Ozil was the subject of a then-club record association football transfer when he signed for Arsenal in a transfer worth up to £42.

In 2021, Mesut Ozil joined Fenerbahce on a free transfer; after his contract with the club was terminated in 2022, he signed with Istanbul Basaksehir.

German international, Mesut Ozil holds the record for the most German Player of the Year awards.

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

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

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

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

Mesut Ozil's grandfather moved as a Gastarbeiter from Zonguldak, Turkey to Germany.

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

Mesut Ozil 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.

On 31 January 2008, Mesut Ozil moved to Werder Bremen for a reported fee of €5 million, signing a contract with the German club until 30 June 2011.

Mesut Ozil excelled in Europe where he led Werder Bremen to the final of the last ever UEFA Cup, losing out to Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine.

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

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

Mesut Ozil was given the number 26 in the pre-season and 19 for his debut.

Mesut Ozil was brought in to back up teammate Kaka, but due to his surgery, Mesut Ozil obtained a starting role.

Mesut Ozil got his first assist with Real Madrid in the 74th minute against Ajax after he crossed for a Gonzalo Higuain goal.

Mesut Ozil walked off the pitch as a second-half substitute to standing ovations in his first two games as a starter at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Mesut Ozil finished the season with 25 assists, the highest for any player in any major European competition that season.

On 14 August 2011, Mesut Ozil scored his first goal against Barcelona in El Clasico in the first leg of the 2011 Supercopa de Espana.

Mesut Ozil finished atop the La Liga assists chart, with 17 assists.

Eleven days later, Mesut Ozil scored two goals in the final game of the regular season against Mallorca, consolidating his excellent performance with the club.

Mesut Ozil then went on to finish the season with 29 assists, although Real Madrid did not win any silverware except for the Supercopa de Espana, Ozil's performance was praised.

Mesut Ozil was assigned the number 11 shirt and the centre-attacking midfield role by the team.

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Mesut Ozil made his debut for Arsenal in their league game away to Sunderland on 14 September 2013.

Mesut Ozil was involved in all three goals, with two assists and a free kick which was saved but fell into Aaron Ramsey's path.

Mesut Ozil missed the chance to score his fourth Arsenal goal when he saw his penalty in the win over Marseille saved by Steve Mandanda.

Mesut Ozil didn't have the best of games [at Liverpool] but that can happen.

Mesut Ozil works very hard to adapt to the physical level of the Premier League and for me he is an exceptional player.

Mesut Ozil was showing signs of old form and started in Arsenal's second leg Champions League last 16 clash with Bayern Munich.

Mesut Ozil was substituted at half-time, and the reasoning behind it was that Ozil had suffered a hamstring injury and will face a month out, missing key fixtures against Chelsea and Manchester City.

Mesut Ozil played all three of Arsenal's remaining fixtures during the last month of his debut season in England.

Mesut Ozil returned to club training in the middle of August after participating in Germany's 2014 FIFA World Cup win in Brazil.

Mesut Ozil had earlier assisted Alexis Sanchez to give the Gunners the lead in the sixth minute of the match.

Mesut Ozil then extended that run to seven straight games with an assist against West Bromwich Albion, before scoring his second Champions League goal of the season in a three-goal victory at home to Dinamo Zagreb.

Mesut Ozil continued his run of good form by providing four assists in the next three games, against Aston Villa, Manchester City and Sunderland, helping his team win all three matches.

Mesut Ozil ended his third season at Arsenal with 8 goals and 20 assists in all club competitions, which won him the Arsenal Player of the Season award.

Mesut Ozil missed Arsenal's opening day defeat to Liverpool, after his excursions at UEFA Euro 2016 meant he was not match-fit.

Mesut Ozil repeated his set-up exploits three days later in a Champions League win against Basel, feeding Iwobi from the left for the fourth.

Mesut Ozil then scored another volley just under two weeks later, in a win against Middlesbrough.

Mesut Ozil then gained a brace of assists in the next round, against Milan.

Persistent injuries limited his involvement in the club's final games of the season Mesut Ozil ended his fifth season at Arsenal with 5 goals and 13 assists in 35 appearances, and featured heavily in the club's later run and appearance in the 2018 EFL Cup Final.

Mesut Ozil was involved in all three goals, scoring the first, and adding two assists in a man-of-the-match performance.

However, no move materialised, and his form continued to suffer, with rumours circulating of Mesut Ozil having a fractured relationship with head coach Unai Emery, who publicly questioned the player's motivation.

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Mesut Ozil was controversially left out of the following Premier League games against Aston Villa and Manchester United, and registered his second appearance of the season in an EFL Cup tie against Nottingham Forest, where he again failed to complete 90 minutes.

Mesut Ozil released a statement on Twitter in which he said that he was "deeply disappointed" but will "continue fighting for [his] chance".

Mesut Ozil said he was "very excited" to be joining the club and would "wear the shirt with pride".

Mesut Ozil had stated a desire to represent Fenerbahce, the team he supported as a child during his career, as well as play in Major League Soccer, with Mesut Ozil engaging in negotiations with DC United prior to signing for Fenerbahce.

Mesut Ozil completed his second season at Fenerbahce with 9 goals and 2 assists in 26 games in all competitions.

On 14 July 2022, Mesut Ozil signed a one-year contract with an option for an additional year with Istanbul Basaksehir.

Mesut Ozil was a member of the German under-21 team from 2007.

Mesut Ozil made his debut for the senior side during a friendly match against Norway on 11 February 2009.

Mesut Ozil was selected for Germany's squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, starting in all of the team's matches.

Mesut Ozil scored a left-footed half-volley from the edge of the penalty area against Ghana in the final group game, ensuring Germany progressed to the second round as group winners.

Mesut Ozil was one of the leading forces in Germany's qualification for UEFA Euro 2012, scoring five times during the campaign as Germany won all ten of its games to top their group.

Mesut Ozil confirmed his reputation as a decisive passer, as he provided seven assists, more than any European international during Euro 2012 qualification.

On 29 February 2012, Mesut Ozil was recognised as Germany's best international of the year for 2011 prior to kick-off at a friendly against France in Bremen.

Mesut Ozil's Germany were drawn with the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal into Group B at Euro 2012, widely touted as the "Group of Death".

Mesut Ozil finished the tournament as the joint-highest assist provider and was named in the Team of the Tournament.

Mesut Ozil ended the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign as Germany's top scorer with eight goals.

Mesut Ozil started all seven of Germany's 2014 FIFA World Cup games, and helped Germany make history by becoming the first European team to win the World Cup in South America.

Mesut Ozil concluded the tournament as the leader in passes completed in the final-third, was ranked joint-second in chances created, behind only Lionel Messi, and ranked second overall in possessions won in the final-third.

Mesut Ozil assisted Bastian Schweinsteiger's goal in the 92nd minute.

Mesut Ozil was selected by manager Joachim Low in Germany's final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

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Mesut Ozil commented on several media outlets that were using the photograph, where he asserted that the media outlets have selectively criticised him for his Turkish background, noting the relative lack of uproar from the media after Lothar Matthaus met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Mesut Ozil then retired from the team as a form of protest against members within the Federation in which he perceived had "racially discriminative backgrounds".

Quick, agile, creative and technical player, with good dribbling skills, Mesut Ozil is a versatile midfielder, who excels in an advanced playmaking role, as a winger on either flank, or as an attacking midfielder through the centre of the pitch.

Mesut Ozil has even played as a centre-forward on occasion, seemingly operating as a lone striker, but actually operating false 9 role.

Mesut Ozil later attended school at Gesamtschule Berger Feld in Gelsenkirchen.

Mesut Ozil picked up the bread, kissed it, and brought it to his forehead to express gratitude towards the food given to him, a central tenet in Islam.

Mesut Ozil's gesture was later widely applauded throughout the stadium.

In 2010, Mesut Ozil was awarded the Bambi for being a prime example of successful integration within German society.

In May 2016, international media covered Mesut Ozil's visit to the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, home to around 80,000 people displaced as a result of the Syrian civil war.

Mesut Ozil toured the camp as well as playing with children, signing autographs and handing out football shirts.

Mesut Ozil invited the child, Charlie, to be a guest at his private box and in the player's lounge during a game with Sunderland at Emirates Stadium.

In 2020, after Arsenal made longterm mascot Jerry Quy redundant, Mesut Ozil offered to reimburse Arsenal for his salary if they rehired Quy, doing so due to their close friendship.

In Ramadan 2021, Mesut Ozil sent food packages to 41 provinces in Turkey to people in need, in collaboration with the Turkish Red Crescent.

In December 2019, Mesut Ozil went online to publish a poem denouncing the treatment of Uyghurs in China.

China's government later stated Mesut Ozil was "blinded and misled", and invited him to visit Xinjiang.

Mesut Ozil announced his support for Palestine in the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, wearing a "Free Palestine" T-shirt along with other Fenerbahce footballers.

In October 2021, Mesut Ozil teamed with the Football Association and Football for Peace to launch a development center, located at the University of Bradford, to tackle the disparity of British Asians in association football.

In 2013, Mesut Ozil signed a sponsorship deal with German sportswear and equipment supplier Adidas.

Mesut Ozil has appeared in commercials for Adidas Predator boots with other star players such as Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale, Thomas Muller and James Rodriguez.

Mesut Ozil has built a varied business portfolio over the years.

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Mesut Ozil is the boss of his own M10 streetwear firm and esports team.

Mesut Ozil owns shares in Mexican football club Necaxa as part of an ownership deal which includes other shareholders like actress Eva Longoria and model Kate Upton.