Lewis Neilson praying for Hearts chance to face Mesut Ozil as he maps out dream to play Premier League

Lewis Neilson grew up watching Mesut Ozil mesmerize English football on Match of the Day.

And the teenager admits Hearts drawing the former Arsenal star’s new club Istanbul Basaksehir is pure box office. But there’s no danger the Jambos stopper will be star-struck if he’s thrown in for a Euro debut against a side containing Premier League magic of the German midfielder and former Tottenham ace Nacer Chadli next week.

Not when the EPL is exactly where 19-year-old Neilson aims to be playing his football in the future. Neilson has heard all the comparisons with John Souttar since following the Scotland defender’s journey from Dundee United to Tynecastle. But the Tynecastle teenager insists he’s driven to follow his own path to the top after impressing in his first Hearts start in Sunday’s 3-2 win over St Johnstone. And with Craig Halkett having missed the last thee games through injury and Kye Rowles hobbling off with a foot injury on Sunday, the chances of Neilson making his Euro debut against the Turks are growing.

That’s a prospect that has the teenager licking his lips - and he even reckons the Jambos can qualify from a Europa Conference League group also containing Serie A giants Fiorentina and unknown Latvian champions RFS.

He said: “I would love to make my European debut but it doesn’t matter who it is against, I will do my own thing.

“If it is Mesut Ozil and Basaksehir, if it is St Johnstone, if it is Celtic, or whoever I will play the same way and give it my all.

“When we saw the draw it went down well and I think we have a good chance to go through and I believe we can take points off of teams.

“We have some really exciting away days with Istanbul, Florence and Riga, so they will be good trips.

“I have