Mesut Özil has vowed to win the Ballon d’Or in the next few years after more criticism from pundits and journalists alike, with the German declaring such criticism only motivates him more.
The World Cup winner has said that he believes he can win the Ballon d’Or as long as he continues to develop and stay healthy, having endured a turbulent time in north London after a £42.4m move from Real Madrid in the summer of 2013. It may not be the belief of many others, but Özil is convinced he can one day reach the heights and extremely high standards of the likes of former and current winners Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
He told Sport Bild: ‘If I continue to develop well and stay healthy, I would like, in the next few years, to hold the Ballon d’Or in my hands. I am convinced that it can happen.”
He was in the spotlight hours after Arsenal’s narrow victory at Newcastle on Saturday as he was pictured in a Berlin nightclub after Arsène Wenger’s declaration that the former Werder Bremen player was too unwell to travel with the Gunners squad to Tyneside.
Germany manager Joachim Löw told Sport Bild: ‘He has told me that he was in Berlin. I spoke to him and he said that he was weakened by a cold during last week and so Arsène Wenger and Ozil together took the decision to not play him at the weekend. After the match, he was allowed to fly to Berlin.’
The jury is still out with regards to Mesut and it remains to be seen whether his Berlin ‘indiscretion’ and defiant words will soften or worsen perceptions of the German.
