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.”