Mesut Ozil’s agent has finally spoken out against the criticism his player received in the wake of his international retirement, specifically calling out Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer and Toni Kroos.
Ozil announced he would be retiring from the Germany national side following their abysmal World Cup campaign and cited ‘racism and disrespect’ as his reasoning.
Some of his former teammates criticised both the decision and statement but his agent Erkut Sogut has labelled Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos as ‘naive or scheming’,
Sogut, speaking to German magazine 11Freuende, said: ‘Neuer indirectly accused Mesut of not having worn the German jersey with pride. This is unacceptable.
‘Müller did not understand the whole discussion. And Kroos, as a seasoned national team player, should explain what he means by “nonsense”.’
The agent went on to add that the remarks by the trio were ‘more than disappointing – and also out of place.’
‘There are only two explanations: they are either naive or scheming.’
It is the first time Ozil’s agent has come out publicly on the matter since the photo with the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, back in May.
The Arsenal playmaker found himself embroiled in controversy within the German media following the photo with Erdogan.
He and Ilkay Gundogan were subsequently booed and Ozil was made a scapegoat for Germany’s poor World Cup.
Aftet their early exit, Ozil released a statement over 2000 words where he announced his retirement from international football and accused the German Football Association of racism due to his Turkish roots
He also criticised them and manager Joachim Low for failing to give him any support.
While there was support for Ozil’s statement in some quarters, a number in Germany hit out at his statement and Neuer, Muller and Kroos were among them.
Kroos told newspaper Bild: ‘Basically Mesut is a deserved international and as a player he deserved a better departure. But the way he resigned was not in order.’
‘The parts in his statement that are rightly addressed are unfortunately overshadowed by the significantly higher amount of nonsense,’ Kroos said. ‘I think he knows very well that racism within the national team and the DFB does not exist.’
Bayern Munich forward Muller said ‘the whole issue never was as big as it was made out to be’. He also claimed racism in the squad was ‘absolutely out of the question’.
Other players and manager Low agreed that there was no racism within the team, although Ozil had pinpointed the football association and wider society rather than his teammates.
Sogut added: ‘Low defends himself against an accusation that has never actually been made: Mesut has not been racially abused from within the team but from the midst of German society. The German football association should have been more protective in this case.’