Gareth Bale's arrival at Real Madrid was largely due to the €50-million sale of Mesut Özil to Arsenal. Injury to the Welshman at the start of the season made it difficult to compare the two players, but now that he has played a considerable amount of matches an idea can be obtained.

After a total of ten games, Bale has scored four goals and produced four assists - one goal more and the same number of assists as the German attacking midfielder who now plays for Arsenal. Bale has taken part in ten matches - including the game against Real Sociedad -, while Özil has played eleven and will face Manchester United on Sunday.

Özil's impact in London was immediate, as he played a decisive role in his first matches of the season, producing several assists. The German then scored three goals, all coming in the month of October - 1st (Champions League, Arsenal 2-0 Napoli) and on 19th (two goals, Arsenal 4-1 Norwich).

Bale took longer to make an impact, due to his injury-plagued start. Despite an early starting-appearance at El Madrigal, when he scored, the forward began to start regularly at the Camp Nou, which was curiously the only game of his last five in which he has not scored or provided an assist. In the game against Sevilla, Bale bagged a brace and set up another two goals. He also created another two goals against Rayo, scored against Juventus and set up another against Real Sociedad.

(link: http://www.marca.com/2013/11/09/en/football/real_madrid/1384016394.html)

it will be great reading comments from arsenal and r.madrid fans especially, anyways what do you guys think?

WOW. That has to be one of the worst pieces of journalism I've seen in a while. It's the equivalent of comparing cancer to Diabetes.

^^ wut?

It's factually correct.

What I can say is that Arsenal definitely needed ozil more than Madrid. They can sell him and still be an amazing squad because they can spend the $$$$. For us he is way more essential. Doesn't make him a lesser player than bale.

Btw now that Bale is at Madrid, I really like him. He's a great great player.

"Doesn't make him a lesser player than bale."

I agree with this.

The article doesn't anywhere, make Ozil out to be crap, in any way. It just points out that Bale, in fewer games, has racked up equal (or better) stats, which is true. This is probably because Bale is awesome, just like Ozil, which a lot of people seemed to doubt, over in Spain... ;)

Ozil is a final product, Arsenal can benefit immediatly from his abilities, and thats what they needed...
Real Madrid has more depth and more quality in their squad, Bale is a young promising player with a great potential, he is not as sharp and clinical as Ronaldo but he is the future of Madrid, the after Ronaldo is garanteed with Bale being part of the squad, his stats will grow gradually as he will take more experience and learn from Madrid stars, i dont know if Ronaldo was better than Bale at his age, but if Bale develops all his potential, he could be a future Ballon d' Or.

Bale has better statistics because he is more directly involved in Madrid's play. He is our RW, and in comparison, Ozil was our AM.

Ozil would be the man who spread the ball out wide, and maintain a cool head and possession. Bale is an explosive type of player who is a solid game-changer. Whom you prefer is all about tactics. I prefer Ozil, simply because he is a #10, and we do not HAVE a proper #10 at the moment (closest thing to one is Isco, and he is an unfinished product). But with the presence of Bale and Ronaldo, it's hard to see why a #10 is necessary other than in the big games (eg against Dortmund, Bayern, Barca, etc).