Schalke youth team coach Norbert Elgert feels that his former charge will relish playing for a club and a coach that have the utmost faith in him.

The man who discovered Mesut Ozil believes that his former protege has made an “intelligent step at the right time” by leaving Real Madrid for Arsenal.

The Germany international’s switch to the Emirates has provoked plenty of debate, with most pundits stunned by los Blancos’ decision to offload a prolific assist-maker who was as popular with the fans as he was with his team-mates.

However, Schalke youth team coach Norbert Elgert believes that the focus should be more on what he feels was a very shrewd move by Ozil, given the player will now receive the trust he deserves from Gunners coach Arsene Wenger.

“I saw Ozil the first time in 2005 at a school project during a four-against-four match on a tennis court,” he told Bild.

“I asked him: where do you play? He answered, ‘At RWE [Rot-Weiss Essen].’ I asked, ‘Where do you live?’ He said, ‘Gelsenkirchen-Buer.’ I said, ‘You have to play for us!

“I don’t belong to those people who say, ‘I knew he was going to be a star.’ “But you could clearly see that he was exceptionally talented.

“He had an outstanding technique, always kept his head up and even back then, he was able to perform under huge pressure.

“I think it [his Arsenal move] was an intelligent step at the right time. Arsenal wanted him by all means and he has a great coach there.”

Arsenal handed over €50 million for Ozil, who had proven a great success in Madrid after joining from Werder Bremen in 2010.

According to Goal