Manchester United are reportedly willing to offer Mesut Ozil a massive contract in order to lure the playmaker away from Arsenal but would he actually go?

Jose Mourinho and Mesut Ozil have a history. They were both at Real Madrid from 2010 – 2013 and during the German’s time in La Liga, he became a regular first team starter, racking up 159 appearances and 81 assists (27 goals).

The coach and player have high praise for the other.

Jose described Ozil as ‘unique’ and the best no.10 in the world. Well, at least we agree on something.

“Ozil is unique,” he said when Mesut signed for Arsenal for a reported £42.5m.

“There is no copy of him – not even a bad one. He is the best number 10 in the world. He makes things very easy for me and for his team-mates with his football vision and the decisions he makes.”

A couple of months later, the then-Chelsea manager also hailed Ozil as the player who could help Arsenal win the title.

“I think, in the deep of their souls, they [Arsenal] think they can [win the title], they believe they have the conditions to do it,” Mourinho said.

“In my previous time here, Walcott was a kid. He’s now a man. Other players are in the best moment of their careers – Wilshere, Ramsey and Gibbs.

“I’m not saying Mesut transformed the team completely. The manager and the club has given players conditions and time to have great stability in their evolution. And now, when you buy Giroud and now Özil and some other players, the team becomes much better and ready to be doing what they are doing which is to fight for the title.”

He’s a big fan, as you can tell.

Likewise, Mesut recently spoke about his footballing career and revealed that the reason he joined Real Madrid in the first place was because he believed in Mourinho.

“After the 2012 World Cup [I was] wanted by big clubs,” Ozil said.

“My idol is Zidane and he played for such a big club like Madrid, and when I heard they made an offer to me, especially [Jose] Mourinho, I spoke with him on the phone. 

“His ideas, what he thought about me as a player, I believed in him and moved to Madrid.”

It’s this history and mutual respect that could see the story that United are willing to buy Ozil and give him £250,000 a week, more than Arsenal are reportedly willing to offer, gain traction.

Wenger would never in a million years allow this to happen.

However, the question is: would Mesut do this to Wenger? Would he want this move?

I don’t think he would. I’ve been wrong before but considering the midfielder has said only recently that the boss is the main reason he signed for Arsenal, I don’t think he’d suddenly pack that in.

We’ve said before on the site that although his people may want a pay rise, I don’t think that’s Ozil’s motivator. Wenger is. And that point still stands.