Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho provides further temptation to Mesut Ozil with victory over Arsenal

Mesut Ozil tells a particularly startling story in his autobiography about the day Jose Mourinho stared him down and loudly called him “a coward” following one of his more languid performances for Real Madrid.

“You think two beautiful passes are enough – you think you’re so good that 50 per cent is enough?” Mourinho shouted. “What do you want? To creep under the beautiful, warm shower? Shampoo your hair? To be alone? Or do you want to prove to your fellow players, the fans out there, and me, what you can do?”

In that moment, Ozil openly admitted that he felt hatred for Mourinho. It is certainly hard to imagine Arsene Wenger having ever given him such a blunt piece of his mind, but the postscript is particularly instructive.

Ozil produced perhaps the best football of his career in Real Madrid’s historic 2011-12 season when they won La Liga with a record number of points and goals. He was only sold by Madrid once Mourinho had himself gone and, when his book came out earlier in the year, it was the Manchester United manager, rather than Wenger, to whom he turned to write the foreword.

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“I love Mourinho actually,” Ozil wrote, making it clear that he was not one of the Madrid players who so clearly lost faith during the subsequent 2012-13 season. Ozil also has a strong, if very different, relationship with Wenger.

He joined Arsenal specifically because of the Frenchman and the strong interest he had shown previously in signing him back when he was at Schalke. Ozil needed to feel wanted once Real became willing to let him go after signing Gareth Bale and, in Wenger, here was a manager ready to build his entire team around him. Indeed, in one of his few interviews about his future earlier this year, Ozil even specifically linked himself to Wenger.

He said that he had a “super understanding” with the Arsenal manager. “It’s important to know if he stays or if he goes,” he said. “In my career I’ve always made decisions not just because of clubs but managers, too.”

Wenger, of course, did sign a new contract but everyone at Arsenal continues to wait on what Ozil will do. Yet if managers really will heavily frame his decision about next season, he could hardly now have a more polarised decision.

Mourinho is certainly now very interested in taking him to Manchester United. His deliberately evasive answer on Friday was telling, but also how he has consistently demonstrated such a high regard for a player who some might regard as the antidote to everything he stands for. Ozil was a regular in a Madrid team under Mourinho that already had one extravagantly talented creator in Cristiano Ronaldo and, while his description of him as “the best No .10 in the world” might have been designed chiefly to boost confidence, he did also underline his respect when he returned to Chelsea.

Arsenal were preparing to take Demba Ba on loan that summer but Mourinho personally put a stop to that deal once Ozil had also been signed. He thought that Ozil’s influence could be transformative in making Arsenal title challenges. For United, then, the chance to sign a player of Ozil’s quality for nothing will surely be considered a no-brainer.

Their team is full of attacking pace, strength and power in Romelu Lukaku, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, but Ozil would provide something very different. He is that rare sort of player who seems always to stand out more and perform better when he is surrounded by team-mates and opponents of maximum quality.

Put simply, Ozil is the luxury oil rather than the engine of any team. It explains why he has sometimes struggled at Arsenal if those around him are also struggling but remains a towering presence in the German national team. He would not be intimidated by the Old Trafford stage but would probably also have to accept rather more time on the bench.

His performance here certainly showcased the added commitment he has shown of late in starring performances against Tottenham Hotspur and then Huddersfield. He was working consistently to track back and help his defence – even when Arsenal switched to 4-2-3-1 as early as the 12th minute – and his range of passing was behind much of their best attacking play.

United fans spent much of the evening chanting “Robin van Persie” at the Arsenal supporters. They responded with choruses of Ozil’s name but, with Mourinho again finding a way to defeat his old rival and United looking increasingly likely to mount the most sustained challenge to City, it was an evening that only enhanced the suspicion that he may very well follow the path already taken by Van Persie.