The ex-Real Madrid star admits he struggled to hold his own in the English top tier upon his arrival but believes the challenge has made him better Arsenal star Mesut Ozil believes that playing in the Premier League has made him a tougher player, such is the ruthlessness of the league. The Germany international spent his first six years in professional football plying his trade in the German top flight before switching to Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid in 2010. Ozil is currently in his fourth full season at Arsenal, which many believe will be his last as contract negotiations at the Emirates continue to drag on, and the playmaker believes it has been his most difficult spell in the game. "The Premier League is the toughest challenge I’ve experienced in football," Ozil says in his new book, Gunning for Greatness: My Life. "If you can’t take it here, without whining, then you’re history. It’s something I had to get to grips with in the first few weeks and months after my switch from Real Madrid. "Whereas in Spain the entire game is based on elegant ball play — even teams from lower leagues try the same — in England you have scratching, biting and fighting. In England, football is one tackle after another. There’s barely any respite.