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LONDON. — His arrival will surely pacify disgruntled Arsenal followers, and put an end to all the carping over Arsene Wenger’s transfer inactivity, but no one should be too surprised to see Mesut Ozil in the role of peacemaker. As a third generation Turkish-German immigrant, Arsenal’s £40million-plus capture from Real Madrid has known division and rancour from an early age, growing up in the tough Bismark district of Gelsenkirchen, where the spread of nationalities was such that they could have staged a World Cup of their own.
His grandfather on his dad Mustafa’s side had arrived from Turkey in 1961 with a single suitcase, not a word of German and a vague promise of a job down the mines. It was a challenging start to life in Germany, and it didn’t get much easier for his grandson.
“I grew up kicking a ball around with kids from all sorts of different backgrounds,” he said. “When we played organised games, I was always in teams that were multi-cultural. There were Lebanese, Poles, Turks, Germans, you name it. “It was a hard area, and it could have been a recipe for trouble, but we learned to get on. We didn’t solve our problems by fighting but by playing football. We gradually became like one big family, helping each other as much as we could, and it became like a lesson for life. I’m a big believer in inclusion, in people integrating as much as possible, because, as has been the case in Germany, it makes for a more colourful and happier country.
“For me, the combination of ethnic backgrounds has worked perfectly. My technique and feel for the ball comes from my Turkish side, while the discipline, attitude and give-your-all mentality is the German in me.”
Ozil’s efforts, before leaving Werder Bremen for Real, earned him a prestigious Bambi media award in recognition of the progress he had made in promoting integration among the various sections of German society.
Similarly, he can be counted on to restore harmony between Wenger and the agitators among Arsenal’s supporters, judging by the accolades that have accompanied him to north London.
Germany Under-21 coach Horst Hrubesch likened him to Lionel Messi, while the senior side’s manager Joachim Low hailed him as a “genius” and his former Real teammate Xabi Alonso added: “He is the kind of player you don’t tend to come across these days.
His understanding of the game and ability to unlock teams with a combination or incisive pass sets him aside from the rest.” Chelsea’s ex-Real manager Jose Mourinho typically did not hold back in his assessment of the Germany playmaker, enthusing: “He is unique. There is no copy of him — not even a bad one. He is the best No. 10 in the world. Everyone loves him and sees a bit of Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane in him.”— Mailonline .
Online Reporter