Mesut Özil

Mesut Ozil has had stints in his native homeland of Germany, Spain and England. 

Ozil came through the ranks at Schalke in 2008 and then secured a move to Werder Bremen prior to the 2010 World Cup. 

There in South Africa, Ozil, amongst other young German footballers, made a name for himself which attracted the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs. However, the playmaker eventually opted for Real Madrid for a fee within the region of €15m. 

The German international made over 100 appearances within the space of three years for Los Blancos and won La Liga and the Copa del Rey during his time there. However, in September of 2013, Ozil swapped the sun of Madrid for north London as he joined Arsenal for £42.5m. 

This move at the time established Ozil as the most expensive German footballer of all-time and also became Arsenal’s record-breaking signing. He’s gone on to win three FA Cup trophies with the Gunners.

Regarding international success, Ozil won the 2014 World Cup with his country, but has since retired from his national side after the DFB failed to support or back the footballer in a public disagreement.