October 14th 2009: “I have been a fan of Barcelona ever since I was a little boy. I can’t describe what it is, but the team just fascinates me. They have always had world-class players such as Rivaldo and Figo in their team. Nevertheless, Barcelona are not an option for me at the moment. Wearing the Barca jersey is a dream, but I still have a lot to learn and I have to work hard before I’m ready for it. Bayern Munich is not an option for me. I don’t even think about something like that at the moment.”

July 2nd 2010: “I want to give a lot of thought to. To the top players the Premier League is attractive. You look at what Manchester United and Chelsea have achieved over the last five years and you see it would be easy to be successful at two clubs like that. I see what Michael Ballack achieved at Chelsea and the quality of players he played with and the temptation becomes obvious. Trophies are what matters to me. There are two teams in England always at the top and of course that’s attractive. But the same is true for La Liga. They’re the strongest leagues in the world.”

July 11th 2010: “Werder Bremen want me to fulfil the contract and so do I. I have always said that I want to fulfil my contract, that is important to me.”

August 1st 2010: “There are four or five clubs in Europe that you would have to say as a player would be a dream to play for. Manchester United and Chelsea are very much two of them. When you are looking at moving clubs it’s impossible not to pay attention to the Premier League and even more impossible not to pay attention to Manchester United and Chelsea. I am a winner and, when I am looking for a new club, I simply look at where I can be the most successful and where I can win the most trophies. If you look at the recent history of Manchester United and Chelsea then it’s clear that a player can be very successful there. Of course clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona are of huge interest and the Premier League’s top two clubs are of serious interest to me when the time comes.”

August 15th 2010 (after learning Werder Bremen had turned down an offer from Real Madrid): “When you have such an opportunity like this, then you want to take it. It is any footballer’s dream to play for the biggest teams in Europe.”
August 17th 2010: Ozil signs for Real Madrid.
August 18th 2010: “I always wanted to play for the best team in the world, and Real Madrid is it. Nothing had been decided before yesterday and I can honestly say I am glad this has had a happy ending. I only aspire to make progress at Real Madrid. This is a great challenge for me. I’ve always concentrated hard and I like to work hard. I stepped on fifth gear and reached the club for which I wanted to play. Real Madrid is the best club in the world. I discussed several options with my advisors, but I wanted to come here because I wanted to work with Mourinho, the best coach in the world. I spoke with him and he convinced me to come. What we said will remain between us, but he is the greatest reason for which I’m here today. The best teams play in Spain and the best in the world is Real Madrid.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has dismissed reports that new signing Bebe has failed to impress in his first few weeks as a United player, launching an impassioned defence of the 20-year-old at his pre-match press conference.

The Portuguese's absence from the Reserves' midweek victory over Manchester City prompted a series of reports questioning his impact at United, but Sir Alex insists there are only issues with the player's fitness, not his ability.

"Bebe is in a programme of doing endurance work, because his fitness levels aren’t near the levels we’re at," the manager said. "Other than that he’s done well.

"He’s had a couple of attacks - I thought they were pretty vicious attacks - on why he wasn’t playing in the Reserve game. He was never going to be playing in the Reserve game on Tuesday.

"I think those attacks came from a bit of vengeance from two journalists who are banned from here. They saw an opportunity to have a go at the club and I think it’s disgusting. The boy didn’t deserve that. He’s a young boy trying to make his way in football, they didn’t need to do that. I think it was a real bitter attack.

"Ability-wise, he’s excellent. Terrific finisher, we’ve been very impressed with that, and it’s just the fitness levels he needs to get to, as opposed to our fitness levels."

Sir Alex is comfortable to take his time with the versatile forward, who has enjoyed a meteroric rise to prominence since joining United, and insists there is no reason to hasten his playing involvement.