Real Madrid boss repents selling their midfield genius

Mesut Ozil

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has admitted that he regrets selling Mesut Ozil to Arsenal, telling Gulf News that he made a “mistake” in sanctioning the German international’s move. However, he refuted claims that he made another mistake in allowing striker Gonzalo Higuain to leave for Napoli, pointing to the quality of the strikers remaining at the club as evidence of his attacking depth.

Arsenal stunned the Premier League with their deadline day move for Ozil, parting with a club record fee of £42.5 million to bring the German to England. He has since produced a string of impressive displays for the Gunners, leading Ancelotti to concede that he should not have allowed the 25 year old to leave the Bernabau.

“I think we made a mistake when we gave him the possibility to leave the club,” admitted Ancelotti when questioned over Ozil’s move.

Ozil has made 15 league appearances for Arsenal this season, scoring four goals and providing seven assists.

However whilst he ceded regret over Ozil’s departure, Ancelotti insisted that he had no such feelings over the departure of striker Higuain.

“We have fantastic strikers and don’t need a back-up after Higuain’s departure,” argued Ancelotti.

Higuain also left the club in the summer, moving to Napoli for a fee of around £30 million.

Despite only playing 132 minutes for Real this season, Ozil made 10 key passes – one every 13 minutes and just four fewer than Gareth Bale has managed in less than a fifth of the time that Bale has been on the pitch.