Fenerbahce have reportedly ‘started the process’ of terminating Mesut Ozil’s contract with Inter Miami interested in signing the former Arsenal man.
Mesut Ozil’s career at yet another club is coming to an ignominious end as Fenerbahce, a club that dreamed of signing the playmaker who dreamed of playing for them, comes to a fractious end.
As you can read below, Ozil has been excluded from the Fenerbahce squad since the last week of March and the Turkish side are now trying to find a way to terminate his contract, which is due to run until 2024.
Valued at just £2.4m now, the 33-year-old is wanted by David Beckham’s Inter Miami, but that move won’t be happening unless Fenerbahce can get him to agree to cancel his contract.
Hull are also interested, which seems random, until you realise that Hull’s owner is the Turkish media company, Acun Medya.
That move would seem the most unlikely of all.
Speaking at the end of March, Ozil’s agent Dr. Erkut Sogut, in comments that were reminiscent of Ozil’s last season at Arsenal. stated that his client has no plans to leave Fenerbahce.
“Mesut did not want to make it difficult in the current environment. Since he does not want to leave Ozan on his own, he trains with him.
“That’s what makes sense right now because of the sad events with the coach.
“Such events are always sad. An unpleasant process has begun for both sides. The important thing is to stay calm and wait for the final decision.
“I say this clearly here. Mesut will not go anywhere, and he certainly has no plans to leave. He will continue here as a Fenerbahce player for two more years until the end of his contract.
“He signed Fenerbahce for three-and-a-half years, six months of which he played for free. From January to the end of the season, he didn’t even make any money.
“Mesut did not go out and denigrate anyone. What happened there will stay there. If his punishment comes, it will be taken and it will end.”
24 March 2022
Mesut Ozil has been excluded from the Fenerbahce squad, following an official public statement from the club.
Fenerbahce publicly confirmed on Thursday morning that Mesut Ozil and Ozan Tufan had both been excluded from their squad, following a decision taken by the club.
The reasoning behind the decision is not yet clear, particularly considering that things were going pretty well for Ozil on the pitch.
The Athletic report that head coach Ismail Kartal made the decision, and it’s not believed to be related to on-field performance.
The 33-year-old often pulled on the captain’s armband for Fenerbahce this season, and he’s scored nine goals in his 26 games for them – including one against Alanyaspor just two games ago.
Most recently, Ozil was substituted off at half-time with Fenerbahce 1-0 down. They went on to win the match, but there was a suggestion Özil was lacking match fitness.
The primary negative of Ozil’s season so far has been a few injury problems. He had a couple of minor groin strains in the first half of the campaign, then a vertebrae issue that kept him out for over a month in early 2022.
The result is that he’s only made 14 Super Lig starts, with Fenerbahce 30 games into their league season.
That could all be totally irrelevant to Ozil’s exclusion. Football.London report that the exclusion is related to a verbal altercation between the two players and the Fenerbahce manager. For now, the details are still sketchy.