Mesut Özil is a German professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Arsenal. Özil plays mostly as an attacking midfielder, but can also be deployed as a winger. He began his senior career as a member of his hometown club Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga, departing two seasons later to join Werder Bremen for €5 million. He garnered break-out attention at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where at age 22, Özil was instrumental in the side’s campaign where they reached the semi-finals, losing to eventual champions Spain.
Birth Name
Mesut Özil
Nickname
El Búho, The Multi-Kulti Kicker, Nemo, The Magician
Profession
Professional Soccer Player
Position
Attacking Midfielder
Shirt Number
- 10 – Germany
- 11 – Arsenal
Coach
Mutlu Ozil (Manager, His brother)
Nationality
German
Personal Life
Birthday / Date of Birth
Mesut Özil was born on the 15th of October 1988, in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Age
He is currently 34 years old.
Sun Sign
Libra
Ethnicity
White
He has Turkish ancestry.
Religion
Islam
Education
Özil got his early education at Gesamtschule Berger Feld located near the famous Schalke’s Veltins Arena in playmaker’s hometown. He started his football education at the club DJK Westphalia, where he was enrolled by his father in 1995. He continued his soccer education with Rot-Weiss Essen, which he joined in 2000 at the age of 11. He stayed with their youth academy for five years before moving to Schalke’s youth academy.
Family Details
- Father – Mustafa Özil (Former agent and former executive at Mesut Ozil Marketing Company)
- Mother – Gulizar Özil (Housewife)
- Siblings – Nese Özil (Sister), Mutlu Özil (Brother), Dugyu Özil (Sister)
Marital Status
Single
Girlfriend / Spouse
Mesut Özil dated –
- Anna Maria Lagerblom (2009-2010) – Mesut started dating beautiful German model Anna Maria Lagerblom in May 2009. After the end of the season, the couple went on vacation together. Anna was a constant presence in the stands during 2010 World Cup, where Ozil made the whole world sit up and notice his tremendous potential. After the world cup, the young star moved to Spanish giants Real Madrid and it was there, their relationship started waning. According to rumors, Anna found it difficult to settle down in the Spanish capital and in September 2010, they ended their relationship and she returned back to Germany.
- Aida Yespica (2012-2013) – Aida Yespica was at the very center of mudslinging showdown between Real Madrid and Mesut’s father when the superstar moved to English side Arsenal. The club through its associated newspapers alleged that Mesut had a mad lust for Aida and used to fly every week to meet her, wherever she was in Europe. It was alleged that this affected Mesut’s performance on the field. Mesut’s representatives denied that his relationship with Aida had any effect on his performances.
- Mandy Capristo (2013–2014 and 2015-Present) – Mesut and Mandy Capristo have been stated as Germany’s answer to England’s Posh and Beck. The German singer and model Capristo started dating Mesut in early months of 2013 and subsequently moved with him to London after his transfer to Arsenal. However, their relationship ended in October 2014 amidst rumors that German player had cheated on his girlfriend. To the delight of their fans, they reunited almost after a year of their separation. They made their relationship public by walking the red carpet together at the Bambi Awards in November 2015.
Physical Statistics
Height
- In feet – 5 feet 9½ inches
- In centimeters – 177 cm
- In meters – 1.77 m
Weight
- In Kilograms – 76 kg
- In Pounds – 168 lbs
Body Measurements
- Measurements – 42–33–14
- Chest – 42 Inches
- Waist – 33 Inches
- Biceps – 14 Inches
Body Build
Athletic
Hair Color
Black
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexuality
Straight
Professional Statistics
Famous For
Creating goal-scoring opportunities for his team. Intelligent and creative style of play. Being the most expensive German player at the time of his transfer.
Soccer Match Debut
Mesut made his La Liga debut for Real Madrid against Mallorca at the Iberostar Stadium on August 29, 2010, in a goalless away draw. He replaced Angel Di Maria in the 62nd minute. On September 14, 2013, he played his first Premier League match for Arsenal in an away match against Sunderland. Özil got his customary assist in the 11th minute Olivier Giroud goal in a 1-3 win.
Film Debut
Bambi Verleihung 2010 was German international’s first film appearance. Though, it was a TV movie where he appeared as himself – Winner in 2010.
Television Debut
Mesut made his first TV appearance in the news sports show Das aktuelle Sportstudio as himself in an episode dated August 7, 2010.
Brand Endorsements
Mesut Ozil has a huge fan following amongst his fans, which has helped him pocket lucrative and prestigious endorsement deals. In 2013, he signed a seven year sponsorship deal worth $35 million with Adidas. In June 2016, he inked a multi-million deal with German car company, Mercedes.
Controversies
Özil did claim Arsenal mismanaged their title bid with the Gunners 11 points off the top. This caused trouble for Arsene Wenger, manager of Arsenal.
Mesut Özil Favorite
- Favorite Singer – Kanye West
- Favorite Music – Turkish Pop
- Favorite Player – Cristiano Ronaldo
- Favorite Car – Mercedes G-Class
- Favorite Food – Menemen (Turkish dish), Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream
- Favorite Color – Green
Mesut Özil Net worth
Mesut Özil estimated net worth of $120 million dollars as of 2023.
Social Media Profiles
- Facebook – Mesut Özil
- Instagram – m10_official
- Twitter – Mesut Özil
Some Lesser Known Facts About Mesut Özil
- Mesut is a religious Man. He is Muslim. He recites some statements of holy Quran before a match.
- Özil has been a member of National Football Team of Germany since 2009.
- He caught the world’s attention in FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa when he was nominated for The Golden Ball Award.
- In May 2016, he performed the Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca, which is customary for practicing Muslims.
- Due to his style of play, he was compared to French legend Zinedine Zidane by his then Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho.
- He tallied the joint highest number of assists at the 2010 World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012. He had three assists at each tournament.
- He is called der Rabe (which translates to The Raven in English) due to his opportunistic and clever style of play.
- With 25 assists, he had the highest number of assists in major European and domestic competitions in the 2010-2011 season while playing for Real Madrid.
- No other player has hand in more assists than Mesut for the German national team since his debut in February 2009. He has 35 assists to his name as of late 2016.
- He was given the Bambi award in 2010 for being the symbol of Turkish integration in the German society. He is one of the most famous German stars of foreign descent.
- Mesut is fluent in four languages – Turkish, German, Spanish and English. And often, his social media posts are in all four languages.
- Due to his pre-match superstition, he always wears his right shoe first and always puts his right foot first while stepping onto the pitch.
- He ties his shoelaces in knots. He believes that this helps him with his incredible ball control as the ball could slip of his instep otherwise.
- He attributes his ability to play in packed areas to his childhood games, which he used to play in a small cage like a playground with older boys.
- As of February 2016, he has missed all his penalties for Arsenal, which includes one against Bayern Munich in Champions League and another against French club Marseille in the same competition.
- He gave away his 2014 World Cup earning, which was about £240,000, for free medical surgery of 23 Brazilian kids. He said it was token of his gratitude to Brazilian public for their hospitality.
- He has been named German player of the year on four occasions, including three consecutive wins from 2011 to 2013 and one in 2015.
- At club level, he has won DFB Pokal, La Liga, Copa del Rey and English FA cup (multiple times).
- In 2018, Mesut was caught in a controversy when he shared his shared his picture with Turkish President. Due to this picture, he received a lot of backlash from German media and politicians. He in a heartfelt post on Twitter condemned the behaviour of the politicians and German media before announcing his retirement.
