Sami Khedira rates Mesut Özil above Cristiano Ronaldo

Updated: 11 Dec, 2024 • 0 • min read

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Sami Khedira rates Mesut Özil above Cristiano Ronaldo

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Former Germany star Sami Khedira has hailed his compatriot Mesut Özil - not Cristiano Ronaldo - as the "most special player" at Real Madrid.

Özil was widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation, and a key part Madrid's attack alongside Karim Benzema and Ronaldo.

Khedira was also part of that Madrid squad having joined the Spanish club at the same time as Özil after they both impressed for Germany at the 2010 World Cup.

The midfielder spent five memorable years at the Bernabéu between 2010 and 2015 and was teammates with Ronaldo when the Portuguese was arguably at his peak.

READ MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo ranks Mesut Özil as best of the Germans

But it was his German compatriot Özil, who Khedira believed was more "special" than Ronaldo.

Speaking to Marca, Khedira admitted the entire Madrid dressing room was left flabbergasted by Florentino Pérez's decision to sell the playmaker.

Everyone understands Cristiano. To win games, Cristiano was the man, because he never failed.

He was always there. We needed a goal, so we passed the ball to Cristiano.

But the most special player for me was Mesut Özil. And I explain it with his departure.

The day Mesut left, we were all saying to Florentino, "But why are you selling him?" But we all said it, right? Benzema, Cristiano, [Sergio] Ramos...

Özil was an absolute genius, he was a real magician. I played behind him and you gave him a bad pass and he controlled the ball with ease... I have never seen a player with that class and that quality, really.

Özil made a stunning £42.5 million switch to Arsenal from Madrid in summer 2013 in one of the most momentous transfer deadline day deals ever.

He played more than 250 matches for Arsenal over seven years before being phased out by Mikel Arteta, with Özil moving to Turkey and retiring from the game altogether soon thereafter.

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