Mesut Ozil’s misery at Arsenal has officially ended after the midfielder completed his much-anticipated move to Turkish club Fenerbahce, exactly a week after he traveled to Turkey.
The former German international said he will be a “Gunner for life” after sealing his free transfer from the North London club to Fenerbahce, after being reduced to a mere training material at Emirates.
The 32-year-old on Sunday signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with his boyhood club after agreeing to cut tie with the Gunners, having won 3 FA Cups with the Gunners, and netting 44 times in 254 matches across all competitions for them since joining from Real Madrid, but has not featured for Mikel Arteta’s first team since March 2020.
The World Cup winner signed for Arsenal from La Liga giants Real Madrid in a £42.4m deal in 2013 – then Arsenal record transfer fee – and started his Arsenal career pretty well as the Arsene Wenger tutored side lifted the Emirates FA Cup in his first year at the club, to end a nine-year wait for a trophy at the Emirates.
In the 2014/2015 Premier League season, Ozil played 32 matches for the Gunners, despite being out of action for three months due to a knee injury, and lifted the FA Cup for the second season in a row.
In the 2015/2016 season, Ozil created 19 assists, that figure is only one short of the English league’s record, presently held jointly by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and Manchester City superstar midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, who BoyleSports.com dropped for in every match he played. One of the highlights of his illustrious career was becoming the first player to assist a goal in six back-to-back games and was named the club’s player of the year. At that point, Ozil was the best thing that ever happened to the club since Thierry Henry.
But, things began to change in 2017 as Ozil was forced to defend his club performances and urged critical ex-Arsenal players to stop complaining and start supporting the side.
At the start of the following year, the former Real Madrid star became the club’s highest-paid player, penning a fresh three-and-a-half-year contract, banking him £350,000-weekly before tax. The impact of COVID-19 on the club’s finances meant the club must reduce its wage bill to balance its books, but Ozil refused to take a pay cut when asked to by the club last summer, with no football activity at the club.
Ozil, who retired from international football duty with Germany in 2018, had fallen out of favor under then manager of Arsenal Unai Emery, before making a stunning return to the first team under interim manager and club legend Freddie Ljungberg.
After the appointment of former player Mikel Arteta in December 2019, the creative midfielder started all 10 of the club’s League matches instantly before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a suspension of league actions in March, which lasted for three-months, – Ozil did not play for Arsenal again.
In October, Ozil wasn’t registered for both the UEFA Europa League and Premier League, which signaled the end of his Arsenal career.
Meanwhile, his new club Fenerbahce have called on fans of the Turkish club to help them fund the contract of new signing Mesut Ozil, with the side allegedly £450million in debt. Reports indicate that the club has set up a platform through which supporters of the club can donate money.
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