Former Real Madrid and Arsenal star Mesut Ozil gave a bizarre response when asked to choose between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
While now in the twilight of their careers, Messi and Ronaldo have dominated the past two decades of football, having claimed 13 Ballon d’Ors between them.
Their collective dominance has spawned a debate regarding which of the pair will go down as the greatest of all time.
But when Ozil, who played alongside Ronaldo at Real Madrid for three years, was asked to pick between the two, his answer came from left-field.
The former Germany international, who is of Turkish heritage, gleefully responded: “Arda Guler”.
Indeed, Ozil played alongside Guler at Fenerbahce, before the Turkish starlet moved to Real.
The 19-year-old was among the stars of this summer’s European Championships, but has struggled to entrench himself in Carlo Ancelotti’s starting line-up at Madrid over the past year.
Days after Ozil was asked to decide between Ronaldo or Messi, the latter scored his 10th international hat-trick as Argentina thrashed Bolivia 6-0 in World Cup qualifying.
The 37-year-old, who also set up two goals at Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires, moved level with Ronaldo for the most hat-tricks in men’s international football.
In the past, Ozil has admitted to favouring Ronaldo over Messi on several occasions.
“Messi has proven himself to be one of the best ever in Spain, but Ronaldo was always the best in every country he’s played in!”, Ozil wrote in an X Q&A back in January 2021, adding a winking emoji for good effect.
Two years later Ozil told Spanish publication Marca: “It was a lot of fun playing with Cristiano Ronaldo, who for me is the best player of all time.
“We both understood each other very well on the pitch, it was perfect. I attended and he scored. Giving passes to a player who almost never missed was a gift.”
Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Mesut Ozil, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Fenerbahce