All eyes on German 'wunderkids'

London: Real Madrid are once again ready to twist the knife into Roman Abramovich's grand plans with an £18 million move for Germany's World Cup star Mesut Ozil.

The 21-year-old Werder Bremen midfielder is the most coveted player in Europe, but Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has made a bold move to line up Ozil, plus his national team-mates Sami Khedira of Stuttgart and Mario Gomez of Bayern Munich, for a combined £58 million.

Not satisfied with wrecking Chelsea's Champions League dream with Inter Milan last season, the former Stamford Bridge darling is destined to leave his old employer bristling with envy once again.

The fall-out at Real Madrid will be intriguing. As Sportsmail revealed last month, the entrance door for Liverpool's Steven Gerrard no longer seems ajar as Madrid president Florentino Perez demands younger players of better value. Chelsea targets Kaka and Rafael van der Vaart may be heading for the exit.

With Khedira to come, Xabi Alonso pivotal and Angel Di Maria competing with Cristiano Ronaldo on the wing, there will be little room for manoeuvre.

Chelsea may have little desire to take scraps from the Real Madrid table but Kaka is no mere crumb of comfort while Van der Vaart still has plenty to offer as one of his fans, Chelsea director of football Frank Arnesen, will testify.

When Ozil left Gareth Barry and Co floundering during their World Cup humiliation, England took notice. Abramovich was transfixed and decided then this was the player Chelsea had to have.

A devout Muslim of Turkish descent, Ozil's quick feet and speed of thought have long marked him out as a star. Bremen thought as much when they splashed out £4 million for him as an 18-year-old, a record German sum for a teenager.

New idol

"He's like a ghost, the way he arrives into the box unnoticed," said one Manchester United scout. Yet it seems the allure of the Premier League are not enough for the wunderkind from Gelsenkirchen.

Arsenal have watched him for two years; Manchester City, of course, were interested; Manchester United asked to be kept informed, having first courted him as a teenager, but Ozil, the self-confessed Barcelona fan who Franz Beckenbauer compares to Lionel Messi, has instead set his sights on becoming the new idol of the Bernabeu.

All eyes are now on Ozil and his fellow Germans to see which way they jump. Bremen general manager Klaus Allofs says he has not given up the ‘ghost' but Madrid insiders claim the deal is close.

Mourinho's regime

Real Madrid's new coach Jose Mourinho is training the squad hard, the Spanish club's Brazilian defender Marcelo said on Monday.

"Mourinho makes sure that we know we cannot ever relax during training and we are very happy with him," the 22-year-old told a news conference.

"We train aggressively and with everything we've got. In order to win we must suffer in training. Mourinho is a good person. He speaks to all of us and doesn't give anyone preferential treatment," he added.