: A diehard Arsenal fan from Kerala's football crazy district of Malappuram has named his new born after German player Mesut Ozil.
Inzamam Ul-Haq says when his wife Fida Sanam became pregnant, he had decided that if it was a boy, he would name him after Ozil, the german professional footballer who plays for the premier English club, Arsenal.
"We had decided if it was a boy, we will name him after some Arsenal player. Ozil was my first priority".
His second choice was Elneny, the Egyptian footballer, another Arsenal player.
Inzamam, a civil engineer by profession, says he was a big fan of Ozil, "who uses chances and sees spaces that other players do not see," he said in a video shot by Arsenal's media team.
The child, born on December 29, 2017 and was named Mehd, which means instructor and Ozil (Genuine) in Turkish, instead of Mesut.
More From This Section
Arsenal's media team was in Malappuram recently to shoot a video of baby Ozil and family titled 'A story of a special young fan from Kerala' and shared in their official page, which has gone viral, according to local media reports.
Inzamam says he is a big fan of Ozil, the attacking midfielder and that if his son was interested, he would do everything to make him a good football player.
He said that as a child, he was interested in sports and loved Arsenal and its red and white jersey.
Malappuram in Kerala's northern district is the soccer capital of Kerala.