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Mesut Ozil has not played for Arsenal since their home win over West Ham on March 7, 2020
Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil is about to complete his move to Turkish Fenerbahce.
The 32-year-old still has half a season left on his contract with Arsenal, but both sides are in advanced talks that hope to lead to a deal to terminate him.
That would pave the way for the move to Istanbul in the next few days.
Ozil has not played for Arsenal since a 1-0 win over West Ham in March and has been frozen by manager Mikel Arteta.
He joined the club in a £ 42.4 million move from Real Madrid in 2013 and helped them win the FA Cup three times.
Ozil spoke of his admiration for the Turkish side during a question and answer session on social media during the week.
“Fenerbahce is like Real Madrid in Spain. The biggest club in the country,” he told his fans.
Media reports in Turkey earlier this month claimed that Fenerbahce would sign Ozil in January.
And when asked about that coach, Arteta said the move would only happen if it was “the best solution for everyone.”
Ozil was born in Germany but is of Turkish descent, and Fenerbahce president Ali Koc has previously said that signing Ozil was a “nice dream”.
In 2019, the 19-time Super Lig champions ruled out an Ozil move for “economic” reasons.
The Istanbul-based club have suffered financial troubles in recent years and saw Istanbul Basaksehir win their first league title last July.
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Having started the first 10 games since Arteta’s appointment in December 2019, Ozil has not appeared since football was restarted after the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in June.
Although Ozil said last summer that he would remain at Arsenal “until the last day” of his contract in June 2021, Arteta cut him out of his Europa League and Premier League teams this season.
He became the highest paid player in club history in January 2018 but refused to take a pay cut for the summer, with no football being played and Arsenal looking to balance the books.
Major League Soccer’s DC United was also heavily tied to a January move for the midfielder.
Ozil helped Germany win the 2014 World Cup, but retired from international soccer in 2018, citing the “racism and disrespect” he has faced in Germany for his Turkish roots.
He was criticized after being photographed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at an event in London in May, and Erdogan was even the best man at Ozil’s wedding in June 2019.
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Source: bbc.com
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