Mesut Özil

Mesut Özil: Biography in Details

Who is Mesut Özil?

Mesut Özil is a German footballer who plays for Arsenal & the German national team. Özil has been a youth national team member since 2006, & a member of the German national team since 2009.

He gained international attention during the 2010 FIFA World Cup & was nominated for the Golden Ball Award.

On transfer deadline day of summer 2013, he moved to Arsenal for a fee of £42.5 million, a record for the club & the highest fee ever paid for a German player.

Özil was the joint-highest assist provider at both the 2010 FIFA World Cup & Euro 2012, registering 3 at each tournament.

Mesut Özil: Birth Facts, Family, and Childhood

Özil was born on 15 October 1988, in Gelsenkirchen, West Germany. He is a third-generation Turkish-German.

His mother’s name is Gulizar Özil and his father’s name is Mustafa Özil. He has a brother Mutlu Özil and two sisters, Dugyu Özil and Nese Özil.

Despite his Turkish descent, his entire life he has been committed to Germany. According to Özil’s own words & the majority of sources, his ancestors are ethnic Turks from Derek, Zonguldak in northwestern Turkey.

However, there are sources that claim Özil’s ancestors are ethnic Kurds.

Mesut Özil: Education History

He attended Gesamtschule Berger Feld in Gelsenkirchen and graduated in the year 2005.

Mesut Özil: Professional Life and Career

Özil began his youth career playing for various clubs in Gelsenkirchen & then played for five years for Rot-Weiss Essen.

In 2005, he moved to the youth system of Schalke 04. However, soon after declining an offer from Schalke 04, claiming that a yearly salary of €1.5 million would not be enough, he eventually fell out with club management and moved on to Werder Bremen in January 2008.

In the 2009–10 season, Özil became the key playmaker of Werder Bremen and was named the best player in the first leg of the 2009 Bundesliga season. On 1 May 2010, Özil played his 100th Bundesliga game against his former club Schalke 04.

Özil went on & led Werder Bremen to become third in the league & again to the DFB-Pokal final, however this time it was lost against Bayern Munich by 0–4.

During the 2009–10 season, Özil was also declared as the “best player of the first half of the season”.

Due to his performances in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Özil ensured his place among Europe’s top young talents. He was sought by teams like Barcelona, Arsenal & Real Madrid.

There were reports claiming that a deal was struck for a transfer to Barcelona, but Werder Bremen denied the reports.

On 17 August 2010, the team announced that they had reached an agreement with Real Madrid for Özil’s transfer.

The transfer fee is believed to have been around €15 million. Özil made his debut on 22 August in a friendly match against Hércules.

Özil was brought in to back up teammate Kaká, but due to his surgery, Özil obtained a starting role. He made his La Liga debut against Mallorca.

He made his season debut in the Champions League against Ajax. His first goal came in a league match against Deportivo de La Coruña on 3 October 2010.

Özil’s first Champions League goal with Real came against Milan on 19 October 2010.

On 22 December, he made his debut in the Copa del Rey, scoring once in an 8–0 victory over Levante. He finished the season with 25 assists, the highest for any player in any major European competition that season.

Özil began wearing the number 10 shirt for Real Madrid in 2011–12, signaling José Mourinho’s intent to use him as his main playmaker. On 14 August 2011, Özil scored his first goal against Barcelona in El Clásico.

Özil was on the short-list for the FIFA Ballon d’Or award.

After the start of the season, he added the Supercopa de España title to his honors. At the end of the season, Özil had 26 assists, more than any other player in the leagues.

On 2 September 2013, Özil agreed to join  Arsenal. Both the fee paid for Özil as well as the contract duration were undisclosed, but they are believed to be around £42.5 million (€50 million) for a five-year deal.

The transfer makes him the most expensive German football player of all time.

Özil made his debut for Arsenal in their league game away to Sunderland on 14 September 2013. 3 days after that, he made his Champions League debut for Arsenal against Marseille.

Just over 3 weeks after making his debut for Arsenal, he made his home debut against Stoke City. He scored his first goal for Arsenal in a 2–0 win against Napoli in the Champions League.

On 19 October, he scored his first two Premier League goals against Norwich City.

In October, Özil was again short-listed for the FIFA Ballon d’Or award. Özil was also featured on the UEFA Team of the Year. He began December with 2 goals.

A minor shoulder injury forced him out of the final game of December in a win against Newcastle United. Özil started 4 of Arsenal’s 6 games in January.

February was a difficult month for him, as he struggled to reach the heights he showed in his first few months at the club.

On 8 March, Özil scored his first goal of 2014 in a 4–1 FA Cup quarter-final win over Everton. Özil was showing signs of old form.

On 20 April, Özil made an instant impact with a lively display against Hull when he returned to the Arsenal team in a 3–0 win.

He played all 3 of Arsenal’s remaining fixtures during the last month of his debut season in England. Özil completed his maiden season at Arsenal with 13 assists & 7 goals in all competitions spanning a course of 40 games.

Özil returned to club training in the middle of August after participating in Germany’s 2014 FIFA World Cup win. On 23 August, Özil made his first appearance of the season against Everton.

Özil featured in the 3 following games & started in Arsenal’s Champions League group stage victory against Galatasaray. On 8 October, the DFB declared that he would be sidelined for between 10-12 weeks with a left knee injury.

The prognosis ruled him out of Arsenal’s remaining Champions League group matches, & 4 international fixtures.

On 11 January 2015, Özil made his first appearance in 3 months against Stoke City. He concluded his second season at Arsenal with 5 goals and 7 assists in 31 appearances across all competitions.

Özil scored his first goal of the 2015–16 season in a 3–0 home victory over Manchester United on 4 October.

He was named a man of the match in a 3–0 win at Watford. On 20 October, Özil scored his first Champions League goal of the season against Bayern Munich.

He set a new Premier League record by being the first player to assist in 6 consecutive matches when setting up Kieran Gibbs’ for 1–1 in the derby versus Tottenham on 8 November 2015.

Özil then extended that run to 7 straight games with an assist against West Bromwich Albion.

On 28 December 2015, Özil assisted the first goal & scored the second in a 2–0 win against AFC Bournemouth, creating 9 scoring chances in total – the most in a single Premier League game by any player during the season.

On 24 January 2016, Özil played his 100th game for the Gunners in a 1–0 home defeat against Chelsea in the Premier League.

The next Premier League game against Southampton at home on 2 February saw Özil creating 10 chances – beating the previous record, 9 created & held by him during the season.

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

Özil missed Arsenal’s opening day of the 2016-17 season after his excursions at Euro 2016 meant he was not match-fit.

He made his debut for the senior side during a friendly against Norway on 11 February 2009. He scored his first goal for the senior team in his third appearance against South Africa on 5 September.

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

FIFA announced that he was among the 10 tournament players nominated for the Golden Ball.

Özil scored 5 times during the campaign as Germany won all 10 games to top their group. Özil also provided 7 assists, more than any European international during Euro 2012 qualification.

On 29 February 2012, Özil was recognized as Germany’s best international of the year for 2011 prior to kick-off at a friendly against France.

Özil claimed the Man of the Match award in Germany’s 4–2 quarter-final win over Greece. His performance at Euro 2012 earned him 2 Carlsberg Man of the Match Awards.

He finished the tournament as the joint-highest assist provider (3) & was named in the UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament.

Özil ended the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign as Germany’s top scorer with 8 goals. He started all 7 of Germany’s 2014 FIFA World Cup games. In the final, Özil played 120 minutes before being replaced by Arsenal teammate Per Mertesacker.

Germany has crowned World Champions with a 1–0 win. After the trophy was presented to the German team, UEFA President Michel Platini asked Özil for his match shirt as a souvenir, & Özil obliged.

Özil led the tournament in passes completed in the final third (171), was ranked joint-second in chances created (17), behind only Lionel Messi (23), & ranked second overall in possessions won in the final third (6).

On 12 June 2016, Özil completed the full 90 minutes of Germany’s opening Euro 2016 match against Ukraine.

On 21 June, he completed 99% of his passes, created 6 chances & claimed the Man of the Match award in a win over Northern Ireland.

Mesut Özil: Salary and Net Worth

While his salary is 7.28 million GBP, he has a net worth of $120 million as of 2022.

Mesut Özil: Rumors and Controversy

With the arrival of Luka Modrić before the start of the season, some in the media claimed Özil was unhappy at Real Madrid, but he later rejected such talk and claimed he was happy at the club and looking forward to competing for his place.

Mesut Özil: Body Measurements

He has a good height of 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) with a body weight of 76 kg.

He has black hair color and his eye color is light brown. There is no information about her shoe size and dress size.

Mesut Özil: Social Media Profile

He is active on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. He has more than 35.5million followers on Facebook.

Mesut has more than 22.2 million followers on Instagram and more than 25 million followers on Twitter.

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Mesut Özil's Birthday Dates