Werder Bremen Hannover 96 VFB Stuttgart
Werder Bremen Hannover 96 VFB Stuttgart
On 31 January 2008, Özil moved to Werder Bremen for a reported fee of €5 million, signing a
contract with the German club until 30 June 2011. Other than Werder Bremen, Hannover
96 and VfB Stuttgart were reportedly interested as well in binding Özil to their respective clubs,
however did not want to pay such a high transfer fee. [14] After transferring to Werder Bremen, Özil
got the jersey number 11. On 26 April 2008 (30th match day) Özil scored the go-ahead goal in
the 33rd minute against Karlsruher SC, to put his team up 2–1. This was Özil's very first
Bundesliga goal. He played in twelve games throughout the second half of the season, six times
playing in the starting formation, becoming second with Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga at the
end of the 2007–08 season.[citation needed]
Although Bremen failed to get going in their 2008–09 Bundesliga season, eventually finishing a
disappointing tenth, Özil managed to make a significant impact in most games and came away
with a respectable three goals and 15 assists that highlighted his attacking credentials. [15] He
helped lead the North German club to the 2009 DFB-Pokal with the winning goal in a 1–0 victory
over Bayer Leverkusen in Berlin.[16] He also excelled in Europe where he led Werder Bremen to
the final of the last ever UEFA Cup, losing out to Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine.[15]
In the 2009–10 season, Özil became the key playmaker of Werder Bremen, stepping into the
shoes of Brazilian Diego who had left for Juventus, was named the best player of the first leg of
the 2009 Bundesliga season.[17] On 1 May 2010, the 33rd match day, Özil played his 100th
Bundesliga game, scoring the 1–0 lead in a 2–0 win against his former club Schalke. Özil went
on and led Werder Bremen to become third in the league and again to the DFB-Pokal final,
however this time it was lost against Bayern Munich by 0–4. In his second season, Bremen
finished a respectable third, with Özil contributing 9 goals and 17 assists in 31 league fixture
appearances. During the 2009–10 season, Özil was also declared as the "best player of the first
half of the season".[18]