Sir Alex: Rooney told me to sign Ozil – Why Fergie got it so wrong

“Wayne said that we should have pursued Mesut Özil, who had joined Real Madrid from Werder Bremen. My reply was that it was none of his business”.

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed in his new autobiography that, in 2010, Wayne Rooney told his manager that he should have signed Mesut Özil from Werder Bremen before his move to Real Madrid. He sharply put him in his place. Since, Özil has gone on to become arguably the best playmaker in world football and is now plying his trade at Premier League rivals Arsenal. Ferguson has made some outstanding signings in his time, but should he regret not signing Özil?

“I told him it was his job to play and perform. My job was to pick the correct teams. And so far I had been getting it right,” he wrote in his revealing autobiography, Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography .

Mesut Özil joined Arsenal in this summer’s transfer market and has since transformed the north London club’s fortunes by scoring three goals and assisting four others. His role in Arsene Wenger’s attack is integral to how they play and Özil is one of the main reasons why Arsenal sit on top of the Premier League.

The 25-year-old German midfielder has played seven times for Arsenal in the Champions League and Premier League since his £42.4 million arrival from Real Madrid and has managed to create 21 chances in that time. That’s three on average per game.

Domestically, you can’t fault Özil. He has scored twice and assisted three times. He has a pass success rate of 87% – a fantastic figure. 194 of his 332 completed passes have gone forward, a percentage of 58.4.

In just five matches, he is Arsenal’s fourth highest point-scorer in Squawka’s Performance Score chart, behind Aaron Ramsey, Olivier Giroud and Per Mertesacker.

When Özil left Real Madrid following the arrival of Gareth Bale, the likes of Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo were livid. Ramos’ anger was down to the pairs’ great friendship being split and Ronaldo’s was because of how well Özil and himself linked up on the pitch.

When someone like Cristiano Ronaldo sings your praises, you must be a good player. He was angry that Özil would no longer be around to supply him with chances to score every game.

‘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,” Ronaldo allegedly said.

For Madrid this season – before his move to London – Özil played two games and created 10 chances, five more than anyone else in that time. He is a chance creation machine, a statman’s dream.

Last season, Özil played 32 games for Real Madrid, scoring 9 goals. He created a mammoth 91 chances, almost 30 ahead of his nearest rival Ronaldo and 46 ahead of Lionel Messi. That’s a staggering number.

His average shot accuracy for that season was 82%, firing 18 shots on target and just four off. That was also the best figure at Madrid last season.

As you can see from the stats, Mesut Özil is a stunning footballer who definitely would’ve taken United onto another level. Wayne Rooney was right to ask his manager to sign Özil – he’s a genius with a football at his feet.

“I explained to Wayne and we get most of our decisions right.”

Maybe not this one, Fergie.