BEVERLY HILLS, January 06, (THEWILL) – Reports monitored by THEWILL from Turkish Sports Broadcaster NTVSpo on Wednesday have concluded that Mesut Ozil, estranged playmaker for English Premier League side Arsenal FC has agreed to a three-year contract with Turkish Super Lig club Fenerbahce SK.
This will come as a relief to the beleaguered talent and bring an end to his Arsenal career as early as this January transfer window. The prodigious German had been frozen out under Mikel Arteta this season as this comes less than 24 hours after it was reported that American Major League Soccer club DC United had placed an offer before Ozil to bring him Stateside.
While details are yet to be made public, the report indicates that Ozil will join Fenerbahce on loan until the summer window. Arsenal will continue to subsidise his wages until he inks a permanent deal with the Turkish club worth about €5m a year.
The midfielder, who joined Arsenal in 2013 and was one of the club’s most influential performers during a period when they won three FA Cups, has suffered being left out of the first-team picture at Arsenal for the whole of this season. He was not included in Mikel Arteta’s Premier League squad and was reduced to a self-appointed Twitter admin of the team.
What makes this move plausible is a picture of Istanbul Ozil shared on his Instagram on Tuesday, where he is seen admiring the night lights with the simple appreciative caption: “This city” and the hashtags #throwback #Istanbul.
The 32-year-old had signed a new contract worth £350,000 per week in January 2018 and was getting regular game-time. However, the departure of long-serving manager Arsene Wenger changed things. Ozil began to have issues, first with Spaniard Unai Emery and then Arteta while Arsenal became desperate to have him off their books as he was not playing.
Should the story hold as reported, Fenerbahce will be acquiring one of the most talented creative players of his generation who has proven his worth at the highest levels while Arsenal will be getting a massive earner who is not playing off their payroll. That will be a clear win-win-win for all parties involved.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
