Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil admits he encouraged Leroy Sane to join Manchester City

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has revealed he encouraged his Germany teammate Leroy Sane to sign for Manchester City. The highly-rated winger recently moved to the Etihad Stadium from Shalke for an initial fee of £37m ($47.9m) and Ozil has revealed he helped convince Sane to try his luck in England.

Sane signed a five-year contract with the Blues earlier this month and the Arsenal man has admitted it was something they discussed while on international duty.

"Naturally, the Premier League was a topic we discussed several times," the Arsenal player told Spox. "I told Leroy that I regard it as the best league in the world and that young players can develop well there. That is why I was happy for him when the transfer materialised. He will improve a lot under Pep Guardiola."

Despite his enthusiasm for Premier League football, Ozil has yet to sign a new contract with Arsenal. The German opened discussions with the club in September last year, but the two parties are not close to reaching an agreement, according to The Times.

Ozil has now entered into the final two years of his deal at Arsenal and finds himself in an increasingly strong bargaining position with the north London side. He has, however, repeatedly said how much he enjoys playing in the Premier League, having previously played in Spain's La Liga and in the German Bundesliga.