Ozil: I turned down an offer from Inter in favor of Madrid

Posted Wednesday, March 28, 2012 by YAHOO Sport

Real Madrid midfielder Mesut Ozil has revealed that he had the chance to join Inter after the 2010 World Cup, but opted to move to the Santiago Bernabeu instead. Now settled in the Spanish capital, he has claimed he would like to stay with Los Blancos until his retirement.

Sport-Bild reports that former Inter coach Jose Mourinho first attempted to lure Ozil to Serie A in 2009, but a transfer never materialized. The Nerazzurri again made a move for the former Werder Bremen star one year later and were willing to pay 25 million euros for the attacking midfielder.

However, Ozil had set his sights on a switch to Madrid and he completed the transfer for a fee in the region of 15 million euros to join up with Mourinho in the Spanish capital.

"It is true that in 2010 I had offers from some top European clubs. This included Inter. But the decision to go to Real was absolutely right. It's the best club in the world, and I would like to end my career here," Ozil told Sport-Bild. "I am only 23 years old, I will not reach my peak for a long time. I'll become even better. I am concentrating fully on Madrid and the national team, because we can make history this year.

"We [Real] can win La Liga and the Champions League, and in the summer the European Championship with Germany."

The Madrid star then went on to discuss the performances of Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, and had nothing but praise for the Argentine.

"It was impressive to see how Messi played against Leverkusen. Of course he is top class, as are many other players from Barcelona," he said. "But we have grown together as a team, which can be seen in La Liga. We are leading the table."

Madrid currently holds a six-point lead over Barcelona in the Liga table.