On Sunday, January 17, Arsenal midfielder Mesut Özil arrived in Turkey to seal off his deal of joining the Turkish side Fenerbahce. The German superstar still has half a year on his Arsenal contract but manager Mikel Arteta would most likely terminate Özil’s contract early as he claimed a Fenerbahce move “would be the best decision for everyone involved.”
Özil is one of the best midfielders the game has ever seen. He won both the La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup while playing for Real Madrid. He also won the World Cup with Germany in 2014. In 2013, Özil joined Arsenal on a fee of £42.4m and won three FA cups with the team.
Özil has not played a single game for Arsenal since their 1-0 win against West Ham in March 2020. At the start of the current season, he was benched again by Arteta and was left out from Arsenal’s Premier League and Europa League roster. A very possible reason is his statement regarding Uighur Muslims in China. Özil was born in Germany but has Turkish roots, and he is a strong advocate for Muslim rights. Many sports media outlets speculate that in order to secure the broadcasting revenue in China, Arsenal decided to drop Özil from the roster, despite Arteta repeatedly saying “it is a footballing decision only.”
Özil’s weekly wage of £350,000 would not be a problem for Fenerbahce, and Özil himself is willing to forgo some of the outstanding payments from Arsenal. Fenerbahce is under a tight financial fair play regulation and expressed that they cannot afford to pay a substantial fee for Özil, but Arsenal cared very little as North London stated explicitly that they want Özil to go this winter. A part of Özil’s salary and the transfer fee will be helped by the Istanbul-based Exxen Media Group. Exxen Media is expected to retain some of Özil’s image rights in return.
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