10 things you didn't know about Arsenal sensation Mesut Ozil

Modified Oct 15, 2016 09:05 GMT

Mesut Ozil is one of the finest playmakers in the world today.He has played for some of the biggest teams clubs in the world and is expected to play a vital role in Germany's challenge for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil later this yearv

#1 Arsenal\'s record holder

Mesut Ozil recently became the Premier League's top assist provider beating the likes of Eric Cantona and Cesc Fabregas to the top gong. The German records 0.37 assists per game – more than any other player in the history of the competition.

His stats are even more impressive given he's well above Arsenal greats such as Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry.

#2 Keep Calm and Ozil will assist you!

In 2011 while at Madrid, Özil ranked first in assists in major European and domestic competitions with 25. In 2012, he ranked first in assists in La Liga with 17. He was also one of the top assist providers in the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012 with three in both.

#3 Youth beauty!

Özil has been a youth national team member since 2006, and a member of the German national team since 2009. He gained international attention during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was nominated for the Golden Ball Award, which is awarded to the tournament's best player. Ozil is an integral part of the German national side, he is technically perfect and a genius on the ball.

#4 Number\'s game..

At Madrid,his jersey numbers were changed often before the season started. He was given the number 26 in the pre-season and 19 for his debut. But following the transfer of Rafael van der Vaart to Tottenham Hotspur, he was given the vacant 23. Later under Mourinho Ozil donned the no 10 shirt speculating that Mourinho would deploy him in a playmaker role.

At Arsenal, Ozil wears the no. 11 shirt but could soon move to number 10 given Jack Wilshere's loan move to AFC Bournemouth. It also is, apparently, one of the criteria the club needs to meet in order for him to agree to a contract extension.

#5 Call me what?

His nicknames have included "Der Rabe" (the Raven, or in Spanish, "El Cuervo") – playing on his smart and opportunistic style of play and at Werder Bremen “Der Neue Diego” (the new Diego) in reference to Brazilian Diego, whose playmaker role he inherited, "German Messi" and "German Zidane".

At Real Madrid, he was supposedly called "Nemo" – in reference to the clownfish Nemo from the Pixar movie Finding Nemo.

#6 Two sides

Özil is a third-generation Turkish-German and about it, he says, "My technique and feeling for the ball is the Turkish side to my game. The discipline, attitude and always-give-your-all is the German part.” Ozil is the first German player of foreign religion to be vastly successful with the national side.

#7 Recognition

In 2010, Özil received the Bambi award for being a prime example of successful integration within German society.

#8 Tweet Tweet!!

Ozil is fairly active on twitter with over 13.4 mil followers and more than 1000 tweets. Ozil's twitter id is MesutOzil1088

#9 Girlfriends?

About his personal life, Anna Maria Lagerblom was Ozil's first girlfriend who previously dated Finnish footballer Pekka Lagerblom. Ozil's second was Aida Yespica, a Venezuelan model who dated Romanian footballer Adrian Mutu for a brief period.

Ozil's current girlfriend is German singer Mandy Grace Capristo whom he recently reconnected with after a brief period of time away from each other.