11 Players You Didn't Know Barcelona Almost Signed

#3 Mesut Özil

Mesut was the hottest sensation in the world of Football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup

In 2010, Ozil was set to leave Werder Bremen, and Barcelona reached an agreement to sign the German for just £7 million. The midfielder even went on to met with the Catalan's president, Sandro Rosell, but the Spanish club's board have not interested in the move.

Mesut Ozil has revealed that the reason for him rejecting Barcelona and then signing for Real Madrid was Pep Guardiola. The German midfielder made the revelations in his newly released autobiography, ‘Die Magie des Spiels‘ (The Magic of the Game), serialized by Bild.

Ozil was the hottest sensation in the world of football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the German confirming that he held talks with Arsenal, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid, before finally signing for Los Blancos.

According to the dailystar.co.uk, Barcelona board's uncertainty gave Real Madrid enough time to swoop in and sign him to Bernabeu. Madrid ended up paying £11 million for Ozil, and it was repaid by the midfielder who flourished and developed into a world class player.

It is reported that Barcelona's board was busy deciding the future of Thierry Henry at the club and that distracted them from the signing of Ozil. Alexander Hleb was also said to be the top priority of the board at that time.