Mesut Ozil admitted he was surprised when he heard the news that Jose Mourinho was sacked as Chelsea manager.

Speculation had been mounting for a while that the ‘Special One’ would be shown the door sooner rather than later when Chelsea failed to string a run of decent results together and sat just above the relegation zone at Christmas.

Ozil, who worked under Mourinho at Real Madrid, stood by his former boss, describing him as ‘special’.

“I’m surprised by what happened with Jose,” said. 

“He’s a great manager. I believe that any club he goes to now he will be successful again.

“I know how special he is as a manager. He is a manager who always supports his team and always protects his team. He’s getting the best out of any player. I wish him all the best for the future, and also that he’s healthy and fine.”

Although I don’t necessarily agree with what Mesut is saying, I have to admire his loyalty to a man he doesn’t even work with any more. It shows professionalism and compassion in a time when it would be easy to simply ignore the news, especially with a huge Arsenal fixture against City approaching.

Ozil is likely to make his 16th Premier League appearance against Man City on Monday night and a win could put us two points off Leicester at the top, four ahead of City.