Arsenal transfer news: Mesut Ozil 'agrees three-year deal' with Fenerbahce, agent 'checking options'
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Updated 06/01/2021 at 15:32 GMT
According to reports in Turkey, Mesut Ozil has agreed a three-year contract with Fenerbahce which could bring an end to his Arsenal career as early as this January transfer window. Ozil has been frozen out under Mikel Arteta this season and had been rumoured to be in discussions with MLS club DC United. His agent still claims he is "checking all options".
Mesut Ozil of Arsenal during the Arsenal Media Photocall at London Colney on September 09, 2020 in St Albans, England
Image credit: Getty Images
Broadcaster NTVSpo reported on Wednesday morning that Mesut Ozil had agreed a move to Turkey, less than 24 hours after it was reported MLS side DC United had made an offer to the playmaker.
It is expected that he will join Fenerbahce on loan initially until the summer, with Arsenal subsiding his wages, when he will then join the Turkish club permanently on a deal worth €5m a year.
Ozil joined Arsenal in 2013 and was one of the club's most influential performers during a period when they won three FA Cups.
But he has been exiled from the first-team picture at Arsenal for the whole of this season, failing to even make Mikel Arteta's Premier League squad and reduced to tweeting from the sidelines.
On Tuesday he posted a picture of Istanbul on his Instagram feed - and will now be moving to the Turkish city, if reports are correct.
However, Ozil's agent Dr Erkut Sogut has told ESPN that the player's future is expected to be finalised in the next 10 days with the midfielder actually still undecided over his next move.
"We were not allowed to talk legally before January 1 so now we are just starting to look at the options with the numbers and details," Sogut told ESPN.
"I can't talk about the clubs directly because it would be unprofessional but generally, there is six months left on the contract and it is nothing unusual that we will talk to people about different opportunities and try to find the best option for Mesut.
He might stay at Arsenal until the summer but he might go. Mesut's priority is to stay but you never know in football, things can change very fast. For the moment, we are just checking all the options for January and the summer.
"If we want to leave in January, I need to talk to Arsenal. If we sign for the summer, we don't need to. That's the situation. In the next seven to ten days, it will be a little clearer as now the transfer window is open, things can move faster."
Ozil signed a new contract worth £350,000 per week in January 2018 but after the departure of Arsene Wenger he had issues with first Unai Emery and then Arteta, leaving Arsenal desperate to have him off the books in January.
His good friend Sead Kolasinac has also left the club to join Schalke on loan and further departures are anticipated.
OUR VIEW
News of an imminent move to Fenerbahce came a little out of the blue following reports last night that Ozil was deep in talks with DC United but this move makes much more sense. Ozil still has the class to operate at a good European club and a move into semi-retirement in MLS would have come too soon - not least because the wage structure of the league wouldn't even have got close to accommodating his likely demands.
Turkey offers him a sanctuary away from his troubles at Arsenal and, as his Instagram post proves, Istanbul is a city he loves. With Fenerbahce acquiring one of the most talented creative players of his generation and Arsenal getting a massive earner who wasn't playing off the books, this is a clear win-win-win should it happen.
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