Mesut Ozil has revealed why he chose Real Madrid over Barcelona when leaving Werder Bremen.

At the age of 34, Ozil announced his retirement yesterday.

He told Marca: "It was a decision between Real Madrid and Barcelona. And in the end it was not a matter of money.

"I don't know if this is known, but I visited Madrid and Barcelona at that time and the difference was José Mourinho. Mou gave me a VIP visit to Real Madrid. He took me to see the stadium and all the trophies they had won. That gave me goosebumps.

"The visit to Barcelona was less enthusiastic and what was more disappointing is that Pep Guardiola didn't bother to meet me. Before that trip I really liked Barcelona's style of football and I could really imagine playing with them, but Madrid went all out. So José Mourinho was without a doubt the most important factor in my decision.

"After my visits, my decision was one hundred percent clear: I wanted to be a Madridista."

Ozil also said: "The Madrid fans are really incredible. Even ten years after leaving Madrid, I continue to receive spectacular support and affection from the fans. It's really amazing. I think we spent three very good years together, three years in which the fans enjoyed themselves and saw that I gave everything for the club. I'm going to be honest, I didn't expect this support to continue for so long, so I can only thank the madridistas."