What Mesut Ozil has now admitted to Sami Khedira about leaving Real Madrid for Arsenal

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Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs on the planet.

The Gunners have previously played host to some elite footballers – such as Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira – as well as a world renowned coach in Arsene Wenger, who changed the way football was played in England after arriving from Japan in 1996.

Arsenal are still going strong nowadays too – sitting third in the Premier League with a shot at the title.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
3	ArsenalArsenal	15	8	5	2	29	15	14	29

As such, few will have looked back on a move to Arsenal as a mistake – although Sami Khedira has now revealed that Mesut Ozil held some regrets about his switch to the Emirates Stadium.

Mesut Ozil told Sami Khedira he should have stayed at Real Madrid

Khedira – who made 185 appearances alongside Ozil for Real Madrid and Germany – has been speaking to Marca in Spain, where he made an interesting comment.

The 37-year-old said: “Ozil had that potential (to win a Ballon d’Or) and although he had a great career, it would have been different at Madrid.

“He told me that it was a serious mistake to leave Madrid (for Arsenal) because he had everything here. The Bernabeu loved him, he played like an angel. Really, Mesut played like Zidane. My idol was Zizou and if you put both of them on YouTube and watch them, Mesut was like Zizou.”

Ozil left Real Madrid for Arsenal in a £42.4m deal back in September 2013, penning a five-year contract worth £150,000-a-week.

The man from Gelsenkirchen went on to make 254 appearances for the Gunners, scoring 44 goals and providing 75 assists, although things ended on a sour note once Mikel Arteta grabbed the reins from Unai Emery as his contract was terminated.

Why Mesut Ozil saw his contract terminated at Arsenal

Arteta and Ozil – who Khedira suggests was better than Cristiano Ronaldo – did not see eye to eye in north London.

The Spaniard left the German out of his squad for both the Premier League and the UEFA Europa League ahead of the 2020/21 campaign, amid rumours the playmaker refused to take a 12.5% pay cut to deal with losses caused by the pandemic.

As Ozil was earning £350,000-a-week, Arsenal felt it made more sense to strike an agreement with him over an early termination of that deal, and it was eventually agreed that he would join Fenerbahce on a free transfer at the start of 2021.

Arteta still called Ozil an “unbelievable” footballer after this development, so it seems the Spaniard does not carry any ill-feeling.