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The International Film Festival in Berlin earlier this year debuted a short documentary about a 17-year-old soccer player playing at Schalke in 2006. What initially began as a look at youth soccer in Germany in general turned into a focus on a certain Mesut Özil. Although shy, timid and soft-spoken in conversation, his commanding abilities on the field demanded the full attention of the camera lenses and the filmmakers.

That 17-year-old has since turned into one of the most exciting players in the world. Still only 24, Özil is now a recognized international star and the heartbeat of Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, which later this month will play in the semifinals of the Champions League for the third consecutive year.

While much of the attention at Madrid inevitably turns toward Mourinho or Cristiano Ronaldo, it is Özil who makes the team click. Mourinho has called him the best No. 10 in the world, and he contends that there is no one like him in the game. Özil’s creativity and ball control have been likened to past greats like Zinedine Zidane. Horst Hrubesch, the onetime Germany star and former U-21 coach, has even called him Germany’s Messi.

In the same way Messi and Ronaldo are productive at converting chances in front of goal, Özil is their equal in producing them. Simply put, Özil creates goals at unbelievable rates. He may not be the most productive scorer himself, and that’s a part of his game that he has admitted he needs to improve, but few players create chances or set up goals the way Özil does. His output has been nothing short of remarkable over the years, and all signs point to his performances and impact only growing.

Consider: Özil is 10 assists from his personal record in all competitions with 11 games to go this season, not including a potential Champions League final. At this rate, would you put it past him?

Or consider a comparison with soccer’s standard-bearer: only Messi has set up as many goals in the last three Champions League campaigns as Özil (16). Since joining Madrid in 2010, Özil has notched an incredible 51 assists in La Liga, where he topped the chart last season. Since joining Madrid, he has directly assisted on 77 goals in all competitions, in addition to the 34 he has scored himself. He is also by far Real Madrid’s most productive creator of chances, with 77 (Ronaldo is second, with 47). Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta all trail behind.

To use an even more conclusive data set, in La Liga this season Özil has averaged 2.9 key passes a game, leading the league. Key passes can be anything from direct assists for goals or passes that directly create scoring opportunities. Compare that with players like Iniesta and Xavi, who have 1.5 and 1.4, and one gets a sense of just how influential Özil can be.

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Just as Xavi and Iniesta play major parts in Messi’s immense output, Ronaldo benefits from Özil’s visionary play every week, and the two have created an almost telepathic chemistry. Of all of Özil’s assists at Madrid so far, almost half have been to Ronaldo. In fact, this month, Özil became Ronaldo’s most productive assist man, setting up more goals for him than any previous teammate. Their blind understanding has been crucial to the club’s success under Mourinho.

But it’s not just Madrid’s great cast of players or Ronaldo’s presence that is optimizing his creativity. Özil was just as productive back in Germany, where at a young age he took the league by storm. Asked to fill in for Werder Bremen’s Brazilian playmaker Diego on short notice, he slotted in and never looked back. In his time in Germany he directly assisted 59 goals in all competitions, leading the assists table in his last season in the Bundesliga before departing for Spain.

And Özil is just as vital for the German national team, from which he is considered undroppable by Coach Joachim Löw. Since he made his Germany debut in 2009, Özil has amassed 23 assist in 46 appearances, and he has been voted national team player of the year in 2011 and 2012.

It is hard to believe Özil is only 24. With 160 assists as a senior professional in all competition, he has statistics worthy of a player with a long, accomplished career. Such is his talent though, that when we look back at this era as the one dominated by Messi and Ronaldo, we may be able to make a little bit of room for a shy, timid Mesut Özil.

All statistics courtesy of transfermarkt.de, squawka.com and whoscored.com.

Cristian Nyari is a New York City-based soccer writer and analyst and the editor in chief of BundesligaFantatic.com. Follow him on Twitter.