I Didn’t Have Ancelotti’s Trust – Ozil

Mesut Ozil quit Real Madrid to join Arsenal because he realised he no longer had the confidence of Real coach Carlo Ancelotti, the Germany playmaker said.

The Premier League club smashed their transfer record to sign Ozil for £42.5m on Monday, days after he said he would stay with the nine-times European champions for a fourth season.

Ozil sulked after Ancelotti substituted him in last month’s La Liga match at Granada and the Italian then left him on the bench for Sunday’s 3-1 victory at home to Athletic Bilbao.

“I was certain…that I would stay at Real Madrid,” Ozil said in an interview published on the German soccer federation’s website on Tuesday.

“Then I realised that I didn’t have the confidence of the coach and the officials after all,” added the 24-year-old of Turkish origin.

Ozil’s departure, which followed Real’s purchase of winger Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur for a world-record fee of €100m, prompted head-scratching in Spain as he was one of Real’s most creative squad members.