Mesut Özil

Mesut Özil born 15 October 1988) is a German professional footballer who plays for English club Arsenal.

Özil plays mostly as an attacking midfielder, but can also be deployed as a winger. He began his senior career as a member of his hometown club Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga, departing two seasons later to join Werder Bremen for €5 million. He garnered break-out attention at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where at age 22, Özil was instrumental in the side's campaign where they reached the semi-finals, losing to eventual champions Spain. He was also nominated for the Golden Ball Award, as well as being ranked first in assists in major European and domestic competitions, with 25.This garnered him a €15 million transfer to La Liga club Real Madrid.

Özil entered the 2017–18 season in the final year of his contract, and struggled initially, featuring sparsely with knee inflammation. He recorded a goal and an assist in a 5-2 victory over Everton on 22 October, and recorded another assist a week later, against Swansea City.His performance in the North London Derby on 18 November was heavily praised, after creating the first goal.He then scored and assisted twice in a 5-0 victory over Huddersfield to close out November, and scored in back-to-back weeks to close out December, first in a victory against West Ham, and then a scintillating scooped finish in a 3-3 draw against Liverpool.

On 11 March 2018, he recorded his 50th Premier League assist in a 3–0 win over Watford. In doing so, he became the fastest player to reach 50 assists in the competition, in his 141st appearance, breaking the record previously held by Eric Cantona.

2018 FIFA World Cup

Özil was selected by manager Joachim Löw in Germany's final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[153] Despite the national team heavily under-performing as defending champions by being eliminated in the group stages, Özil featured in two of the country's three games, and averaged more chances per 90 minutes (5.5) than any other player in the competition