Before anyone barks at me for being unrealistic and for being a bit of a fantasist to suggest such a thing, I know it would be unlikely, but I would like to see German playmaker Mesut Ozil at Liverpool. This is not a quick reaction to his performance last night either, because I know I and other Reds supporters have been following the 21 year old’s progress since he played an integral role in Werder Bremen’s UEFA Final Cup run a couple of years ago, and his great displays in the European U21 Championships for Germany last year.
A player who can play in the hole behind the strikers or on the wing, Ozil has all the capabilities to be a top class player for both club and country. An excellent passer with a fantastic left foot, he has been accused of inconsistency in the past as he fades in and out of games. As he has matured though he is now becoming a very accomplished footballer, and this season Ozil has come of age, scoring 9 and assisting 11 goals in the Bundesliga for Werder Bremen. His star is only likely to rise in the next few years and his performance for Germany, albeit against a pretty ordinary Australia side, is testament to that.
So where has Ozil come from? Born in Gelsenkirchen to third generation Turkish immigrants, he took to football at an early age. After spending his youth career at various clubs, he joined Rot-Weiss Essen in 2002 before joining his home town club Schalke 04 in 2005 at the age of 17. He got his break in the first team not long afterwards and replaced former playmaker Lincoln in the team for two Deutsche Pokal (German Cup) matches against Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen. Impressing in these games, he began to start matches at the end of 2006/07 season helping Schalke to a second place finish.
Controversy wasn’t far behind Ozil though as he refused to sign a new contract during the 2007/08 season, falling out with management and losing his place in the first team. Realising they couldn’t keep the youngster, Schalke sold the creative playmaker for €4.3million in January 2008 to Werder Bremen, a German record for a teenager. He started six league games as the season drew to a close with Werder Bremen just missing out on the title to Bayern Munich.
He began to play a bigger role in his first full season at the club and he helped Bremen to the UEFA Cup final with some great displays. He also won a German Cup medal at the end of the season. Ozil’s most notable performances however, for those living in England, came in the European U21 Championships last summer for Germany. After already making his debut for the senior team against Norway the previous February, Ozil set out to impress during the tournament, helping his side to a 4-0 win over England in the final, creating goals and scoring one against Stuart Pierce’s team.
Since the departure of Bremen playmaker Diego to Juventus last summer, Ozil has taken up a central role for his club and has not disappointed with his performances. It has culminated in his starting role for Germany and a starring performance for his side against Australia last night. If he continues to impress and leads Germany deep into the tournament, his transfer fee will no doubt rise and rise, and will be way out side the price range of Liverpool FC. In such a situation, we’d probably only consider looking at him if we were looking for a replacement for Steven Gerrard, and even then he may have bigger offers from other clubs to consider. If he flatters to deceive in subsequent games during the tournament though, and his stock doesn’t rise as far, I believe he could still be considered, in a roaming role from either wing financed by the sale of wingers such as Albert Riera and Ryan Babel. If Yossi Benayoun is sold as some reports would have us believe, Ozil could well be the ideal replacement.
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Football FanCast writer Oscar Pye-Jeary documents his time in South Africa following England in the 2010 World Cup. (England v USA).
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I think he’s a very realistic option actually. If not, then I was really impressed with Elia ( I think thats how it’s spelt) today, he totally changed the game for Holland.
Özil is known to be quite inconsistent here in Germany though time is on is side. Not to sure whether we can afford any passengers right now so maybe we should try to get more consistent players in.
Would cost in excess of 30m. Not realistic at all.
Should’ve bought Elia when Rafa was after him, at the time he was going for 8 mil. After this tournament fee will prob double.
It baffles how writers keep coming up with these names of people we should get to replace Yossi by spending over £20m when we have the likes of Pacheco, Amoo, Duran and co at our disposal and would cost us absolutely nothing. Dont get me wrong the boy has skill but if we buy all these 20-22yr olds players then when will we see the fruits of our newly revamped academy system (thanks in no small part to the so called ‘unsuccessful’ Senor Benitez – THANK YOU RAFA FOR EVERYTHING).
I implore all LFC fans to start having faith in our youth because we have some of the most exciting youngsters coming through since the days of the Owens, Gerrards et al and stop all this ‘we need to buy this guy and that guy’ nonsense, which is the other reason I feel the sacking of Rafa was done at the wrong time however inevitable it might have seemed. he would’ve known which boys are ready and which aren’t.
YNWA!!!