Mourinho hails arrival of Ozil at Real Madrid

Jose Mourinho has backed Mesut Ozil to be a key player for Real Madrid for a decade.

The Germany midfielder completed his move to the Bernabeu from Werder Bremen yesterday for a fee believed to be in the region of 15 million euros (around £12.4million).

"He's a player who can play for Real Madrid for 10 years," Madrid boss Mourinho told Marca after his side drew 1-1 with Standard Liege in a pre-season friendly last night.

"His contract was running out so we could get him at a lot less than his actual market value.

"With Kaka's injury, Ozil and Sergio (Canales) are two players who can give us a lot."

The arrival of 21-year-old Ozil, who will be officially unveiled at a press conference this afternoon, has sparked another round of speculation surrounding the future of Rafael van der Vaart.

The Holland midfielder scored Madrid's goal yesterday, but did not celebrate - a fact some took to mean he was on his way out of the club.

But Mourinho said: "For us it was just a training match. The result was not very important. I don't give any importance to the fact that Van der Vaart did not celebrate his goal. I didn't (celebrate) either. It was a friendly.

"For me, Van der Vaart is still as important as before the Ozil transfer. As always, I will listen to the wishes of the players."

Mourinho declared himself happy with his business in the transfer market this summer.

It has been a lower-key recruitment drive than last year for Madrid, with Ozil very much the headline name on a list which also includes Canales, Sami Khedira, Ricardo Carvalho, Pedro Leon and Angel Di Maria.

"In a market that is affected by the bad economic situation, without making a signing like Kaka or Cristiano (Ronaldo), the club has invested enough," he said.

One player seemingly not making the move to Madrid this summer is Romelu Lukaku, the 17-year-old Anderlecht striker who has caught Mourinho's attention.

"His father is very intelligent and will not let his son go now," said Mourinho. "We will see next season."