“Missing Mesut Özil and İlkay Gündoğan was my biggest - TopicsExpress



          

“Missing Mesut Özil and İlkay Gündoğan was my biggest mistake” Record Arsenal signing Mesut Özil still causes sleepless nights for Bayer 04 Leverkusen CEO Wolfgang Holzhauser. Despite the club signing a number of wonderful talents in recent years – Michael Ballack, Stefan Kießling, Lúcio, Oliver Neuville, Carsten Ramelow, Bernd Schneider and Heung-Min Son to name just a few, CEO Wolfgang Holzhauser admits there are two players that got away. Holzhauser says he had the opportunity to sign both Mesut Özil and İlkay Gündoğan for small fees as teenagers but didn’t believe they would develop into the world class players they are today. Speaking to the Bild, Holzhauser said: “Five and a half million for an 18-year-old boy who is already having trouble with his coach and would demand high salary? Let’s wait first of all to see what will become of him.” What became of that “boy” was the superstar that went on to play for Schalke 04, Werder Bremen and Real Madrid before becoming the English Premier League’s second highest transfer of all time when he moved to Arsenal FC for £42.4 million this summer. Mesut Özil has made an immediate impact with the London club, setting up 3 of their six goals in the two Premier League matches he has played. He won La Liga with Real Madrid in 2011-12 and has 49 caps for the German national team (15 goals). İlkay Gündoğan has since gone on to play for both 1. FC Nürnberg and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, whom he remains with today. He has 8 caps for Joachim Löw’s national side, won the Bundesliga and DFB Cup double in 2011-12 and finished runners-up in last season’s UEFA Champions League. Gündoğan was subject to heavy transfer speculation over the summer which linked him with a move to English Premier League champions Manchester United.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 12:16:26 +0000

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