How Did Cristiano Ronaldo React to Mesut Ozil’s ‘Little Cristiano’ Body Transformation Amid Comparisons by Mario Gomez?

They say soccer is a sport that changes the lives of all the players. Well, financially and fame-wise it does; yet we beg to differ. Remember former Spanish player Fernando Torres? As an aesthetic body he had during his soccer career, his physique underwent a remarkable evolution post-retirement—all bulked up. A similar seismic change was seen in Mesut Ozil, who also saw a stout glow-up just a period after hanging up his boots. In fact, the transformation of the former German international, which Mario Gomez recently compared to Cristiano Ronaldo, had even left CR7 jaw-dropped!

It all dates back to March 2024, when Mesut’s 28 million followers on Instagram were stunned to see the same Ozil. “Is he really our ‘Nemo’?” Questions crossed the minds of netizens and soccer faithful worldwide as they gasped in surprise to see an all-bulked-up Ozil, posing stoically alongside his personal trainer, Alper Aksaç, with both of them posing their arms inside a gym.

The former Arsenal superstar’s biceps were more massive than ever and glared so brightly that it caught the eye of Ronaldo. Additionally, the Portuguese superstar was forced to open the comment box and typed, “bro not bad,” alongside a winking emoji on the social media post. 

The considerable transformation of his former Los Blancos teammate astonished Ronaldo, who shared the locker room with Ozil for over three seasons at Santiago Bernabeu. It sums up all the sweat and hard work that the 35-year-old had put on to lift weights in the gym. While this was a stellar surprise that Ozil gave to the soccer fraternity, his former national teammate, Mario Gomez, had a different stance. He intriguingly called the ex-Fenerbahce star a ‘Little Cristiano.‘ 

Mesut Ozil looks to become a ‘little‘ Cristiano Ronaldo

Even though everyone was impressed with Mesut Ozil’s Hulk transformation, it didn’t convince his ex-German teammate, Mario Gomez. Speaking to Phrasenmaher podcast, despite acknowledging Ozil’s efforts as ‘admirable,‘ Gomez questioned the former Arsenal midfielder’s ‘mission‘ behind building such a bulked-up body, which is a path that often leads to ‘nothing good.‘ The bluntness didn’t end here as Gomez said, “It looks a bit crass and wouldn’t be my thing.” But the former center forward had a counter explanation for his statement. 

“When you come out of a career in which you received a lot of encouragement and praise for years, you naturally look for something that fulfills you. Mesut now seems to have found this in the gym. He also played with Ronaldo and maybe thinks: ‘Now I have time to become a little Cristiano.’” 

So, Ozil hitting the gym to become a smaller version of Ronaldo… interesting! Nevertheless, putting aside all the opinions, it’s quite remarkable of Mesut Ozil to keep up his fitness even after leaving the soccer pitch.