At his peak, Mesut Ozil was one of the best attacking midfielders in the game.

The 34-year-old who signed up for the Los Blancos in 2010, spent three extraordinary years at the club.

Ozil has revealed that Barcelona also wanted him at the time, but he ended up choosing playing for Jose Mourinho over Pep Guardiola.

He wrote in his autobiography Magic of the Game: “Before I personally wanted to go to Barcelona. I was convinced to go there. No team of the world played more beautiful football at this time.

“But the absence of Pep Guardiola made me suspicious. When my consultant and I flew back from Barcelona, I asked him again and again. Why was the coach not there?” His answer was always the same: ‘He was on vacation.’

“Guardiola did not call me in the following days either. He did not even send an SMS. He did not send me a signal that he wanted me to. After that my enthusiasm for Barcelona steadily declined.

“Because of Guardiola’s behaviour, I did not want to go there. Especially because Mourinho fought so much at the same time. He was so convincing. He was the complete opposite of the Barca coach. So I opted for them.”