Sead Kolasinac has said he followed the career of Mesut Ozil closely.

• Kolasinac and Ozil are both products of Schalke’s academy
• Ozil is a role model for young players at Schalke
• Kolasinac looks forward to meeting his new team-mates

Kolasinac and Ozil both came through Schalke’s academy and went on to play for the Schalke first team. Like Ozil, Kolasinac represented Germany at youth level, and both players went to on to play in the 2014 World Cup, albeit for different nations.

It’s not surprising, then, that Kolasinac followed Ozil closely.

“He also came through the academy at Schalke, went to Werder Bremen, had a great World Cup and then went to Real Madrid,” he said.

Ozil, it seems, is something of a role model for young players at Schalke.

“From there he’s come here. We’ve all followed his career, especially the boys who come from Gelsenkirchen, where he was born. We’ve all followed his career.”

Kolasinac is also looking forward to meeting his new team-mates.

“I spoke to our old coach, Norbert Elgert, who has a close relationship to him. He informed me about Mesut and said that he will welcome me really well here.”

“I’m looking forward to getting started and being able to get to know the boys.”

Having a player he feels connected to would help Kolasinac settle in at the club, as would the likes of Per Mertesacker and Shkodran Mustafi, who could be his defensive partners next season.

Kolasinac signed on a free transfer on Tuesday and is the latest Bundesliga player to arrive at the club.