Ferguson made Rooney want to leave Man Utd after issuing brutal Ozil response
Mesut Ozil has retired from professional football, with his legacy going beyond the black and white stats of his storied career.
On Wednesday, the enigmatic midfielder confirmed he would be hanging up his boots aged 34. Ozil’s retirement from the game comes after an unsuccessful period in Turkey, first with boyhood club Fenerbahce and then most recently, Istanbul Basaksehir.
The World Cup winner paid tribute to each of his clubs in an emotional statement posted to social media: "I've had the privilege to be a professional football player for almost 17 years now and I feel incredibly thankful for the opportunity.
“But in recent weeks and months, having also suffered some injuries, it's become more and more clear that it's time to leave the big stage of football.
"It has been an amazing journey filled with unforgettable moments and emotions. I want to thank my clubs - Schalke 04, Werder Bremen, Real Madrid, Arsenal FC, Fenerbahce, Basaksehir and the coaches who supported me, plus team-mates who have become friends.”
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He retires with a resume many of his fellow professionals would snatch his hand off for, winning major honours in three countries, as well as lifting international football’s biggest prize. For those who focus on the Premier League though, there is a tendency to reduce his 18-year career to the eight seasons he spent with Arsenal.
When he arrived in north London in 2013, he did so as one of the world’s most exciting players, a reputation he would only enhance at the World Cup in Brazil the following summer. But despite being a part of four FA Cup-winning squads, there is a perception he never truly adapted to the rigours of the English top-flight.
Ozil has retired from football at the age of 34 (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Rightly or wrongly, for all of his individual brilliance, Ozil became the poster boy for the critique that Arsenal were all sizzle and no steak. During the final years of Arsene Wenger ’s reign, the Gunners were seen as a light touch and the German was often - unfairly - criticised for not showing up when his team needed it most.
It’s fascinating then to imagine how Ozil would be perceived had he not joined Arsenal and instead made the switch to Manchester United. And that’s a transfer that would have materialised, if Wayne Rooney had got his way.
In the summer of 2010, before Ozil signed for Real Madrid, Sir Alex Ferguson claims that a disgruntled Rooney told him in no uncertain terms to go after the playmaker. "Wayne said that we should have pursued Mesut Ozil, who had joined Real Madrid from Werder Bremen. My reply was that it was none of his business who we should have gone for,” Ferguson wrote in the autobiography he released shortly after retiring.
Rooney and Sir Alex Ferguson had differing views on Ozil joining Man Utd (PA)"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." Ferguson added: "Well, he was not on our radar at the time. Ozil when at Werder Bremen played wide right, then towards the end of the season played him off the front.
"He went to South Africa and did very well. But wasn't on our radar. But I explained to Wayne and we get most of our decisions right."
It was a brutal snub which resulted in a furious Rooney going public with his intention to leave Old Trafford. The England striker said the club were no longer matching his own ambitions and wouldn’t give him the assurances on the squad he wanted.
“During those meetings in August I asked for assurances about the continued ability of the club to attract the top players in the world,” he said in a statement. Rooney clearly placed Ozil in that bracket and the idea of the two players linking up in their peaks was a tantalising prospect.
But Ferguson had the final say - and it remains just that, a prospect. The Scot will continue to argue he got more right than he did wrong.
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