In the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the future did indeed look bright for one of football's greatest nations as they were forced to field a young side due to an injury to their captain, Michael Ballack.

By Kelvin Goh Wong

They stunned the world with impressive wins against giants like England and Argentina, playing with more speed and more heart even as they emerged third place winners in the tournament.

One of the German stars that added to their market value over the duration of the World Cup is Werder Bremen's Mesut Oezil.

The 21-year-old German midfielder of Turkish descent made a name for himself with his blazing runs and "magical" left foot. He is often seen pacing down the left flank, stretching out defences and is very lethal on the break.

The Gelsenkirchen-born Oezil started scaling the heights of footballing greatness with Shalke 04 when he made his international debut in the 2007/2008 Champions League. At the time he was still very involved with the German youth team.

But it was not until he signed with Werder Bremen that his football career kicked into high gear as he scored the winning goal that led the club to German Cup glory in the 2009 season.

After providing the German side with the much needed finesse and improvisation, the young player has attracted big name clubs in the Barclays English Premier League (EPL).

Being previously linked in trade rumours to clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea, he has reignited interest from English clubs as he describes a move to the EPL as a "dream".

He also admitted that he is "excited" at the prospect of playing for Manchester United or Chelsea adding that if either club reaches out to him, it would be hard to turn down a move to England.

His current club Bremen seems resigned to cash in on Oezil, rather than risk the possibility of losing him in the free transfer market next year. Oezil however, is unsure whether a transfer deal would be able to be done this year as he has a year left on his contract.

A transfer to Chelsea may be unlikely as the club is facing the possibility of replacing full-back Ashley Cole who has voiced his desire to reunite with former boss, Jose Mourinho, at Real Madrid.

Chelsea is also one of the front runners to sign Brazilian stars, Neymar and Ramires. If those deals get done, the possibility of adding Oezil to the list of transfer targets should be out of the question.

A move to Manchester United is probably more plausible for the young German as United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has yet to sign a big name in this transfer window.

'The English giants are said to be interested in signing a midfielder and a long term replacement for Edwin van der Sar at the goalkeeper position. Having lost midfielder Andersen to an injury and with Ben Foster being sold to Birmingham, United are a little thin on the roster in those positions.

Oezil would have a chance of being slotted into the starting line-up immediately with United's veteran Paul Scholes coming off the bench to contribute.

Oezil would add a new dimension of speed to the United midfield. He can be slotted in the centre, in place of Scholes or maybe even on the left, in place of Ryan Giggs, where he is known to be very effective.

Oezil could also learn a lot from United's "old foxes" Scholes and Ryan Giggs, which would help him grow as a player.

However unlikely it may seem, Oezil may also end-up across town with Manchester City. City seems to be out to buy a title. To date, City has already signed big names like David Silva, Aleksandar Kolarov, Yaya Toure and Jerome Boateng just to name a few.

The way that City's buying spree has developed, it would be no surprise if Oezil ends up on their payroll instead of Chelsea or United.