Mesut Özil

As reported by all major football news outlets, Werder Bremen have confirmed that German International Mesut Özil (21) has joined Real Madrid for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around €15 million.

Despite being heavily linked with FC Barcelona during the summer, Özil has joined Barca’s arch rivals and will be a Madrid player this coming season. Bremen had initially turned down an offer from Madrid on Friday, but have now reached an agreement, satisfying their demands for a player who was on the last year of his contract, and therefore would have been available on a free transfer when his contract expired in 12 months.

The player, who was one of the key players in this summer’s World Cup, will undergo a medical in Madrid tomorrow.

Madrid have also confirmed the deal, and Bremen’s director of sport Klaus Allofs said: “We are respecting the player’s wishes to take the next step in his career immediately.”

FIFA’s official website mentions that “Allofs had opened up new contract talks with the Germany international a year ago, but the player officially rejected the club’s final offer prior to the FIFA World Cup.

“From that moment, it was clear Bremen would be forced to sell the 21-year-old, who only had a year left to run on the three-year deal he signed when he arrived from Schalke in 2008, otherwise they would have lost him on a free transfer next summer.”

Barcelona to bid on Mesut Özil to block a move to English clubs

According to the English newspaper The Daily Mail, Barcelona will make a bid for Mesut Özil (21), to avoid his signing for Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City. Guardiola would face difficulties to give Özil a place in the starting line-up, but senior figures in Barcelona have been quite impressed by his performance for Germany in the World Cup this summer.

Özil currently plays for Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, but his contract will expire next summer, as he refuses to extend his contract. He already has plenty of admirers in England, and he has been targeted as a potential replacement for Cesc Fabregas. Özil, known as the “German Messi,” is more attack minded than Fabregas, who is considered more as a box-to-box player. Barcelona would be ready to buy Özil this season, and send him back on loan to Werder Bremen for the next year, if the price is right. Alexander Hleb, who was on loan to Stuttgart last season is suggested to be a part of the deal. Hleb would then go to Bremen as a part of an exchange deal.