Ozil exit hits Real where it shirts

Leaving aside on-the-pitch matters, Mesut Özil's departure has left behind a gaping hole at Real Madrid's club shops. With his no. 10 shirt no longer available, there is a gap between Benzema's no. 9 and the no. 11 worn by flavour of the month Gareth Bale.

Without Özil, Real has lost a magician in midfield and its second most popular player in terms of shirt sales. Last season's figures are in and they make for interesting reading: only Cristiano Ronaldo sold more shirts last season than the German playmaker.

Though his white no. 10 shirt was only third on the bestsellers list, the German was second in the pile when it came to the blue away kit and the green Champions League jersey.

The numbers possessed by Real Madrid show that Özil had the biggest fan appeal in the squad after CR7, but Gareth Bale's arrival and the €50 million on the table nevertheless persuaded 'Los Blancos' to part ways with the German.

Now the club has been forced to recall swathes of previously in-demand Özil replica shirts from its stores dotted around the capital.

For those of you wondering what will happen to them now, they will be sent to outlets and placed into storage until next summer, when they will go back on sale at discount prices once the new kit for the 2014-15 campaign has been unveiled.