Skip to main content

Mesut Ozil completes Fenerbahce move


Outsted Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has joined Fenerbahce on a three-and-a-half-year deal after last playing for the Gunners in March, both clubs announced on Sunday.


The 32-year-old German was omitted from Arsenal’s Premier League and Europa League squads this season and his reported deal on a weekly salary of £350,000 ($475,000) was set to expire at the end of the current camapaign.


“I’d like to thank the club for this amazing journey over the past seven-and-a-half years,” Ozil, who won the World Cup with Germany in 2014, said in a statement.


“Together we won trophies for the first time in years and created memories that will last a lifetime,” he added.


Ozil, who is of Turkish origin, was heavily criticised in Germany for posing for a photograph with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2018. 


Erdogan was also the best man at the player’s wedding in Turkey.


Ozil ended his international career after what he described “racist” attacks following the holders’ first-round exit at the 2018 World Cup.


Fenerbahce, one of Istanbul’s three big clubs, are currently third in the league behind Besiktas.


Ozil joined Arsenal from Real Madrid in 2013 and lifted the FA Cup on three occasions under then-coach Arsene Wenger.


After starting the first 10 games of Mikel Arteta’s reign as boss in north London, Ozil’s last appearance came in a win over West Ham last March before the coronavirus pandemic saw football grind to a halt last year.


“Mesut’s achievements at Arsenal are undisputed. It was a privilege to play alongside him and, more recently, coach him,” Arteta said on the club’s website.


“These successes will always be part of our history. We thank Mesut and wish him all the best with Fenerbahce.”


In December 2019, Arsenal also distanced themselves from comments Ozil made on social media criticising China’s treatment of the Uighur population.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nigerian Military hands over 23 rescued children to UNICEF through Borno State

The Nigerian military has handed over 23 children who were formerly associated with Boko Haram insurgents, to UNICEF through the Borno State government.  The children were picked up during various military operations around the north-east region. Aged between 17 and 10 years, the boys and girls confessed to the military that they have been assisting the Boko Haram insurgents either as fighters or domestic helps in the camps. The Theatre Commander of a military counterinsurgency force, Abba Dikko, said the 23 children were released in line with Nigeria military’s commitment to the observance of human rights. He observed that the children and other vulnerable persons were victims who faced with the highly unstable circumstances induced by the conflict would have had little option but to fall under the thrall of the insurgents.  “We were able to identify this category of people, especially the women, the aged and children to whom it behooves our sense of duty and res...
Post a Comment
Read more

FRSC reinforces directive on use of google maps while driving

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has clarified its position on the use of Google Maps, The FCT Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ayuba Gora was quoted saying that driving with the aid of Google map using mobile phones is a serious traffic offence. Gora said this at the inauguration of the 2019 Ember Months Campaign by Lugbe Unit Command of the FRSC in Abuja yesterday. But, FRSC Spokesman Bisi Kazeem making reference to Gora’s comments said the Sector Commander was quoted out of context and his statement outrightly misrepresented. Kazeem said the FRSC as a technology-driven organisation is not and has never stood against the use of Google Maps by Motorists. The statement read: “To state the obvious, we have always enlightened the public on the position of the law on the use of phone while driving. “The statement he made during the flag off buttresses the position of the Corps, which is that any driver who intends to deploy the use of Google Map...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hurricane Hits Texas, One Person Reported Dead

Hurricane Harvey hit Texas as a Category 4 storm on Friday, battering the coast with 130-mph winds and torrential rain. It was the strongest hurricane to hit the United States in more than a decade leaving a massive destruction, loss of electricity, wrecked buildings and has so far killed at least one person. Scroll down to see more pictures of the incident:
Post a Comment
Read more