Arsenal ace Mesut Ozil has admitted his great admiration for Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane.

Ozil described the Real Madrid boss as his "idol" after refusing to rule out a return to the Bernabeu earlier this week.

"Iniesta is a big player. I like how he is playing, but my real idol was Zinedine Zidane," Ozil told The Times.

"He was not selfish. He scored, but he also made assists. He was a leader.

"I also admire Xavi. Barcelona was huge because of him, his calm with the ball. He was a leader, he was controlling everything.

"Everyone speaks about [Lionel] Messi, but if you look at the [bigger picture], it was Xavi who made the whole team work. He made Messi better. And the other players, too."