Mesut Ozil has revealed that he had a major bust-up with Jose Mourinho during their time together at Real Madrid in his new book.
The book is set for release later this month, but as always snippets have been leaked to the media to build up interest and drum up sales.
Ozil appears to have nailed that strategy as one of the first things to come out of it is a situation that played out in Madrid when Mourinho was in charge of the La Liga giants.
The clash has been serialised by Bild, with claims that the pair squared up to each other “like boxers” as the Portuguese tactician branded him a coward.
Ozil had thrown his jersey on the floor, to which Mourinho responded: ‘You think two beautiful passes are enough… you think you’re so good that 50 per cent is enough’.
“He pauses. Stares at me with his dark brown eyes. I stare back. Like two boxers at the stare-down before the first round.
“He shows no emotion. Just waits for a response from me. How much I hate him right now. And I love Mourinho actually.
“[Mourinho adds]: ‘Oh, are you giving up now? You’re such a coward. What do you want? To creep under the beautiful, warm shower. Shampoo your hair? To be alone?
“‘Or do you want to prove to your fellow players, the fans out there, and me, what you can do?’”
It’s no surprise to hear about the ruthlessness of Mourinho and his desire to get the best out of players and ultimately win, and this appears to portray that attitude.
Whether it works for all players is up for debate as some will take exception to it while others will rise to the challenge and meet his demands.
Nevertheless, Ozil’s book promises to be an interesting read as he’ll no doubt have other tales to tell from his time in Spain, Germany and England as Arsenal supporters await a decision over his future with his current contract set to expire next summer.