Mesut Ozil at Real Madrid: Snubbed Barcelona + Fought with Mourinho
Before coming to Arsenal with the club record fee, Mesut Ozil had the attention of every top club in Europe, turning down the likes of Bayern Munich and Manchester United after his stunning 2010 World Cup run with Germany.
Eventually he ended up Real Madrid, but in his upcoming book "Die Magie des Spiels", Ozil explains why he decided to choose Madrid over Barcelona.
"Before I traveled to Barcelona, I was convinced that was my next club. I was leaning toward joining Barcelona. There was no team in the world that played more beautiful football.
"But Guardiola did not attend talks and he did not call me either the days after. He did not even send me a text. He did not show me that he wanted to sign me as well. My interest in a move to Barcelona quickly decreased."
Ozil also revealed in his book a spat that he had with Mourinho in his Real Madrid days concerning his work ethic, which by now, Ozil is probably immune to all the criticism.
"Mourinho screamed at me 'Do you think two nice passes are enough? You think you are too good to enter a duel. You think you are so good that you can play at 50 per cent. Do you know what it looks like when you enter a duel? Let me show you.' He then tiptoed around the dressing room with his hands close to his body and pursed lips," said Ozil from his new book coming out in March.
"I lost it and screamed at him to go out there on the pitch and play himself, taking off my jersey and throwing it at his feet. I told him to put it on and go out there.
"Mourinho was just laughing and sniped 'Are you giving up already? You are such a coward. What do you want to do? Get in the warm shower and wash your hair? Do you want to be alone? Or would you rather show your team-mates, the fans and me what you can do? You know what Mesut, why don't you start crying! You are such a crybaby, get in the shower. We do not need you.'
"I grabbed my towel and walked past him into the showers without saying a word to him.
"I later apologized for my behavior to captain Sergio Ramos and the rest of the team."
I guess I can now see why Ozil was so attracted to Arsenal in the first place as this puts everything into perspective. He's a player who needs to be managed individually with care, which is something that you can rely on Wenger for doing, which is probably why he constantly praises and recognizes the fact that without him, we wouldn't have him in our kit in the first place.