How Good is Özil? CAM Assist Leaders Compared

After the very exciting, deadline-day move of the German international from Real Madrid to Arsenal; I have been living in a feeling of euphoria: only chocolate, women in bikini's and trophies are here. Back to the headline: Özil is considered to be one of the best playmaking midfielders in the world. I will be comparing the best attacking midfielders in the top 5 leagues on their domestic league and 


Welcome, Özil!

Champions League performances. To qualify for the list, originally the player had to have a minimum of 17 assists in the Europa League, respective domestic league and Champions League in the 2012/2013 season, and be listed as an "attacking midfielder (central)" on whoscored.com. Those are still the requirements but I did not include statistics from the Europa League. We are left with a pretty impressive list containing Mesut Özil, Marek Hamsik, Andres Iniesta and Juan Mata. Özil is a world-class playmaker, but let's see how he fares against his fellow elite.