Germany star Mesut Ozil has quit the Bundesliga and Werder Bremen to sign a contract with Spanish giants Real Madrid for an undisclosed fee, it was announced on Tuesday.
“We respect that Mesut wants to go and take the next step in his career,” Werder Bremen director of sport Klaus Allofs said in a statement.
Ozil was one of the stars at last month’s World Cup and the attacking midfielder played a key role in helping Germany finish third.
With Werder Bremen preparing for a Champions League qualifying match against Sampdoria, the 21-year-old Ozil sat out training on Tuesday.
Real said on its Web site that Ozil would undergo a medical in Madrid yesterday before addressing a press conference at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium at 2pm.
No transfer fee was announced, but the Spanish sports newspaper Marca put it at 15 million euros (US$19 million) and said Ozil had signed to a six-year contract that would make him 5 million euros a year.
Ozil joined Bremen in January 2008 from Schalke 04 and won the German Cup with Werder last year.
He has played 71 games for Werder and scored 12 goals.
Having won the European under-21 Championships with Germany in June last year, he was nominated as one of the 10 best players at the World Cup in South Africa.
“Mesut Ozil lands at Real Madrid after a standout performance at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa,” Real said on their Web site. “His unique touch, unmatched individual technique, excellent ball control and deadly last pass make the German midfielder one of the brightest up-and-coming stars in European football.”
Ozil, a gifted and versatile midfielder with a great left foot, was spotted by Schalke, whose academy he joined in 2005.
Within a year he had graduated to the first team and he made his Bundesliga debut at just 17.
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