Jose Mourinho and Mesut Ozil were a marriage made in heaven for two years at Real Madrid... so Manchester United signing Arsenal contract rebel on free transfer isn't as crazy as it sounds

  • Manchester United are considering moving for Mesut Ozil on a free transfer
  • United boss Jose Mourinho used Ozil to great effect while at Real Madrid
  • Ozil was 'the best No 10 in the world', according to Mourinho a few years ago
  • Mourinho had Ozil working hard defensively and tactically sharp in Madrid
  • Cristiano Ronaldo also loved Ozil for his creative qualities at the Bernabeu

Jose Mourinho had a love-hate relationship with Mesut Ozil at Real Madrid. The German midfielder was just 22 years old when he became one of Mourinho’s first signings in 2010.

For two years it was a marriage made in heaven and it was Ozil’s wonder pass at the Nou Camp for Crisitano Ronaldo to score that, in effect, won the league for Mourinho’s Madrid.

But in their third and final season together, Mourinho’s demands on Ozil began to take their toll and the German was the reason behind one of numerous spats between Mourinho and Sergio Ramos.

Mesut Ozil and Jose Mourinho formed a formidable partnership together at Real Madrid
The midfielder shone brightly and the club beat Barcelona at their peak to the La Liga title

Mesut Ozil and Jose Mourinho formed a formidable partnership together at Real Madrid, where the midfielder shone brightly and the club beat Barcelona at their peak to the La Liga title

Ozil's Arsenal career looks set to end this season and Manchester United are plotting a move

Ozil's Arsenal career looks set to end this season and Manchester United are plotting a move

But with the news that Manchester United are interested in signing Ozil from Arsenal, it seems the good memories have obviously out-lasted the bad ones. This is after all the player Mourinho described in 2013, when he was back at Chelsea, as 'the best No 10 in the world'.


Ozil never really grasped Spanish during his time at Madrid but that did not matter to Mourinho because he did seem to understand every word spoken to him by his manager. He was a flair player but in those first two seasons he showed a grafter’s instinct to follow Mourinho's detailed pre-match orders, even when they were detrimental to him being the star of the game.

Ozil showed the love was still there when he handed Mourinho his Arsenal shirt in 2013

Ozil showed the love was still there when he handed Mourinho his Arsenal shirt in 2013

The pair embraced after Mourinho's Chelsea won at Arsenal in the League Cup

The pair embraced after Mourinho's Chelsea won at Arsenal in the League Cup

There were times in those gruelling Clasicos that Ozil was asked, not just to work his magic between the lines and feed the forwards, but also track Gerard Pique when ever he tried to come out with the ball from the back – which was at every given opportunity – and drop deeper to close down Xavi and Sergio Busquets.

There were times when Ozil was exhausted by Mourinho's demands. He was hooked early in the second half of the first Clasico of the 2011-12 season when Barcelona won 3-1 at the Bernabeu. But the two always fell back in love and he was man of the match at the Nou Camp in the season’s second league Clasico - that pass to Ronaldo is seen as the pivotal moment in a season that ultimately delivered Mourinho the Spanish league he craved.

Occasionally against Barcelona, Mourinho would even dispense with Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain, neither of whom he had complete faith in, and play Ozil up front with Angel di Maria and Ronaldo. He was confident that although there was not an out-and-out centre forward in that trio they would get goals and Ozil and Di Maria would track back to make a five in midfield when the team did not have the ball.

Ronaldo loved Ozil too, no-one put the ball just where he wanted it more. He was seen as the one Real Madrid player that would have made his way into the Barca team of the same era.

But the Ozil–Mourinho relationship burned out in season three. In November 2012 Real Madrid played Deportivo at home and were 3-1 up at half-time. That didn’t stop Mourinho hooking Ozil in the interval. He had rollicked him from the touchline during the first 45 minutes and the verbal onslaught continued at half-time. Ozil did not reappear for the second half… but his shirt did.

Ozil was a big success at Real
But he has been largely underwhelming in his time at Arsenal

Ozil was a big success at Real but he has been largely underwhelming in his time at Arsenal

Mourinho worked Ozil hard at the Bernabeu and had his man contributing well defensively 

Mourinho worked Ozil hard at the Bernabeu and had his man contributing well defensively 

Ramos put Ozil’s shirt on beneath his own and the plan was to score and take off his own jersey to reveal the German’s. It would have been the perfect protest to Mourinho for hooking one of the most popular players in the Real Madrid dressing room. He never scored, but the No 10 was so visible beneath his own No 4 that it made the front page of Marca the following day.

MOURINHO AND OZIL AT REAL MADRID 

Years together: 2010-13

Trophies won: Copa del Rey (2011), La Liga (2012), Spanish Super Cup (2012)

Ozil games: 147

Ozil goals: 27

Ozil assists: 60 

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At the end of the 2012-13 season Mourinho was gone and Ozil was sold to Arsenal to finance the purchase of Gareth Bale. Some speculated that Mourinho had advised Real Madrid president Florentino Perez to get rid of Ozil. But it didn’t seem that way at the start of the 13-14 season when Mourinho – now at Chelsea – said: 'Ozil is unique. There is no one like him, not even a bad copy. He is the best No 10 in the world.

'He made things easier for me and for his team-mates with his vision and his decision making. I see a bit of Figo and Zidane in him. Signing Ozil makes Arsenal title contenders.'

The comments were perhaps just another way of winding up Arsene Wenger, putting pressure on him to win the league. But they also seemed genuine. Mourinho went to Spain to win La Liga and Ozil was one of the main reasons why he achieved his goal.