Mesut Özil is close to agreeing a settlement with Arsenal that would allow him to terminate his contract and join Fenerbahce this month.
The playmaker’s future has been a topic for several months and the question has been when, rather than if, he will depart a club where he has fallen dramatically out of favour. Özil’s £350,000-a-week deal at Arsenal ends on 30 June but the two parties are on the verge of confirming an early parting of ways.
Talks are understood to be continuing but player and club can now see a clear route out of a situation that has cast a shadow for longer than anyone involved would have liked.
Özil was frozen out of Mikel Arteta’s plans after football returned from its Covid-19 hiatus in June and was then completely cut from the 25-man Premier League and Europa League squads for the first half of this season. He has become an expensive problem and, among Arsenal’s fanbase, a deeply divisive one.
Fenerbahce have emerged as the frontrunners for Özil’s signature in the event of a disentanglement with Arsenal, with Major League Soccer’s DC United also linked with the 32-year-old. He said in a Twitter question and answer session on Monday that Turkey and the US were the “two countries I want to play football in before I retire” and also explained that he grew up as a Fenerbahce fan, describing them as a Turkish version of Real Madrid.
Terms with Fenerbahce are not expected to be a problem and his arrival in Istanbul should be confirmed as soon as the loose ends with Arsenal are tied up, potentially in the next few days.
Özil won 92 caps for Germany, where he was born, but has Turkish heritage and has retained strong links with his ancestors’ country.
It will draw the curtain on a seven-and-a-half-year spell at Arsenal that began in significant excitement when he signed from Real Madrid for £42.5m in September 2013. The spell has not been without its successes, which have included four FA Cup wins, but did not quite herald the fruitful new era Arsenal had hoped for. His first three years at the Emirates were particularly impressive, with a return of 19 Premier League assists in 2015-16 bringing him the club’s player of the year award.
Özil’s effectiveness waned, though, particularly after the departure of Arsène Wenger. He was dropped by Arteta’s predecessor, Unai Emery, while several off-pitch issues have caused friction with his employer. Özil was unhappy in December 2019 when, after he publicly criticised the treatment of Uighur Muslims in China, Arsenal distanced themselves from his comments.