Football Transfer Rumours: Mesut Ozil to Barcelona? Dream move or nightmare for the German star
Mesut Ozil was one of the nominees for the Golden Ball and impressed everyone at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The player scored two important goals for Germany, along with numerous assists for his teammates at the World Cup. The player has become a household name at the age of just 21 and has a bright future ahead of him. Following his impressive performances at the World Cup, numerous heavyweight clubs including Chelsea, Manchester United (the player’s name is even mentioned on Manchester United’s website as a first-team player!) and Real Madrid have been linked to sign the midfielder. The player currently has a year left in his contract with his current club, Werder Bremen, and aims to leave the club in the summer.
However, Ozil faces a tough choice of clubs. The midfielder dreams of joining Catalan giants Barcelona sometime in his career, and the Spanish Champions have reportedly snapped up the player on a four year deal. However, coach Pep Guardiola has not given a thumbs up to the player and he has a risk of being loaned out or reduced to only cameo appearances for the Catalans. Manchester United are next in line to sign the midfielder, who consider him as the long term successor of legendary midfielder Paul Scholes.
German coach Joachim Low has advised the player to sign with Barcelona and reject bids from Premier league clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United. Ozil has the power to join any club he likes owing to the undeniable talent of the playmaker, but admits to want to join Barcelona. Barcelona’s boss, Pep Guardiola, has not publically announced his pleasure to welcome the German playmaker to the club, which would be mean a bad future for Ozil if he joins Barcelona.
Yaya Toure’s position is empty at the club, owing to his transfer to Manchester City. Sergio Busquets thus remains the only defensive midfielder, which would mean Guardiola is only interested to sign a like for like replacement of the departed Ivory Coast midfielder. Had the club been successful in signing Arsenal Captain Cesc Fabregas, Guardiola would’ve wanted the Spanish midfielder to replace Yaya Toure at that spot. Many players, who are not part of Guardiola’s plans, have either been sent out on loan or sit out on the bench for most of the season. Brazilian midfielder Keirrison, since joining Barcelona in 2009, is yet to make a single appearance for the Spanish club and has been loaned out to three different clubs since. Argentinean Captain Javier Mascherano would be the perfect replacement for Yaya Toure, in which Guardiola is seemingly interested in.
Former Arsenal Captain Thierry Henry remained with the club last season, even though the coach had little use for him. Henry only made substitute appearances for Barcelona last season and has been allowed to leave this summer. Dmytro Chygrynskiy is another player who joined Barcelona last season and was sold back to his club as he was not part of the boss’s plan for the coming season.
So for Ozil to dream about joining Barcelona may become a nightmare for the German, if he is reduced to just off the bench appearances. Ozil prefers to play in the heart of midfield or on the left wing, which is currently crowded by some of the best talents on the planet. Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Xavi, Iniesta and newly signed David Villa are currently playing up front, with none of these players expected to be substituted. The ever improving Pedro is also expected to be competing for the same spot, and was impressive in the last season. The player scored 23 times with Barcelona last season, which was more than what Zlatan Ibrahimovic could score despite the club paying over the odds to get the services of the Swede.
Ozil would therefore need to keep such matters in his mind and wait for Guardiola’s approval before inking a contract with the Spanish giants. The squad at Camp Nou is just too crowded as youngsters like Thiago Alcantara and Jonathan Dos Santos are also pushing for a spot in the team, with Bojan also coming of age to play for the Catalans.
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