Mesut Ozil has shocked fans after undergoing a remarkable body transformation following his retirement and former Germany team-mate Mario Gomez has suggested he is trying to 'become a little Cristiano Ronaldo '.
Ozil spent three years playing alongside Ronaldo at Real Madrid before leaving to join Arsenal. He was eventually frozen out by manager Mikel Arteta after helping the Gunners in four FA Cups and he spent three seasons in Turkey before retiring last year.
Since stepping away from football, the World Cup winner has evidently spent plenty of time in the gym. He has bulked up considerably from his playing days and Gomez has suggested a potential reason for Ozil's transformation.
"First of all, it's admirable how he pulls it off," he told the Phrasenmaher podcast. "However, I am someone who believes in the happy medium because I have experienced swings in both directions and know that extremes often lead to nothing good.
"I don't know what his mission is behind this. It looks a bit crass and wouldn't be my thing - but that's not the point. When you come out of a career in which you received a lot of encouragement and praise for years, you naturally look for something that fulfils you.
"Mesut now seems to have found this in the gym. He also played with Ronaldo and maybe thinks: 'Now I have time to become a little Cristiano'."
After Ozil posted a clip of him working out earlier this year, Ronaldo was among those who commented on it as the Al-Nassr forward wrote: "Bro not bad," followed by a winking emoji.
And while Ozil may no longer be directly involved in football, he was watching on as his former club knocked Manchester City out of the Champions League on penalties earlier this month. Real are now set to face Bayern Munich in the semi-finals, while Paris Saint-Germain will take on Borussia Dortmund, and Ozil believes Carlo Ancelotti's side are the "big favourite" to lift the trophy.
"It was a fantastic fight," he told Marca. "City showed why nobody wants to play against them. They dominated the game most of the time… if not all of it. But Madrid was very intelligent, as always.
"They defended very well. I shouted, 'Hala Madrid!', after Toni Rudiger's penalty, so you can imagine how I experienced it. It was very exciting. I think that now Real Madrid is the big favourite. I trust that they can win the Champions League."
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