GARETH Bale has not even stepped on to the Bernabeu pitch following his world-record £86million move, but already trouble is brewing in the Real Madrid dressing room.
Daily Mail
The bond Mesut Ozil shared with his Real team-mates was obvious on Wednesday as a series of players voiced their support for the man Bale will replace — not least Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese superstar is reported to be upset at the loss of Ozil, who was also lauded by Alvaro Arbeloa, Isco and even Barcelona rival Cesc Fabregas.
Bale may have called Ronaldo “the boss”, but reports in Spain suggested that had not placated the Portugal forward. Newspaper AS said he told his national team-mates: “The sale of Ozil is bad news for me. He was the player who best knew my moves in front of goal. I’m angry about Ozil leaving.”
Isco, who joined Real from Malaga this summer, told Marca Ozil’s sale “surprised” him, while former Liverpool defender Arbeloa said the 24-year-old would be badly missed. “It’s a shame,” he said.
“It’s a big loss to the dressing room, on a footballing level and on a personal level. There’s no player like him in the world. He makes the difference on the pitch.”
Sportsmail this week revealed how the deep affection for Ozil united a disjointed Real squad.
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The admiration even stretched to Catalonia. Fabregas told a radio station: “I was really surprised by Ozil’s departure. He seemed to me the second-best player at Madrid after Cristiano.”
Low, who has guided Ozil’s entire national career, was dumbfounded.
“It is incomprehensible for me that Real Madrid would sell the player who assisted an unbelievable amount of goals in the last two or three years,” he said.
“He is a player who is sensitive and needs to have the trust of the coach and his club. The last few days before his switch, you could tell that the trust maybe wasn’t 100% there any more.”
He told Sportsmail: “Mesut is an intelligent player, he’ll be a great fit for Arsenal. Arsene Wenger’s imagination and creativity will be a great bonus for Mesut’s development.”
The belief that Ozil, already with one wonderful World Cup under his belt, can get even better was echoed by his father, Mustafa.
“Mesut is still not at his top level,” he said. “I’m sure there is 15 to 20% to get out of him and Mr Wenger will help him to do that. “I would not see the Premier League as tougher than Spain. La Liga teams do not play with fewer players and they also play twice every week. He is physically prepared for that.”
