Mesut Özil has no future at Fenerbahce Istanbul. A tough separation is imminent
Source: dpa/Arne Dedert
Mesut Özil no longer plays a role at Fenerbahce Istanbul. Although the 33-year-old emphasizes his loyalty to the club, his approach speaks a different language. Now the ex-national player is publicly turning away from his club.
KAs soon as the little signal was noticed, it was already having an effect. The reports in the Turkish sports media rolled over. Mesut Özil, 33, long one of the best footballers in the world, has once again deeply upset the fans of his club Fenerbahce Istanbul.
On Monday morning, a Turkish journalist tweeted that Özil no longer followed his employer on Instagram. A slap in the face for the proud supporters of Istanbul. A public break with the club. After that, the “breaking news” on the sports channels rolled over.
It is significant that Özil once again made the headlines with an action off the pitch. From a sporting point of view, the midfielder at Fenerbahce has long since ceased to be a top performer and is absolutely dispensable.
Özil’s contract runs until 2024
Although he still has a contract until 2024, Fenerbahçe would not put any obstacles in his way. On the contrary. At the club you should even be happy if Özil, who is one of the big earners, would leave the club. Özil himself had only defended himself against allegations at the end of May and emphasized on “Twitter” that he had not been paid for the first half year of his contract.
In terms of sport, Özil fell short of expectations for long stretches. Coach Ismail Kartal decided not to rely on his star anymore. The whole thing culminated in the suspension in early April. Özil has not played a minute since then and has not trained with the team.
The hope of a fresh start under the new Fenerbahce coach Jorge Jesus was quickly dashed, because the Portuguese rejected Özil’s return when he was introduced. At the start of training last week, Jesus put his words into action and did not nominate the German for the pre-season squad.
A premature separation seems unlikely. Because of Ozil. In the past, the hopeful at the time had already said that he no longer wanted to play for any other club. There is a risk of a stalemate. Even in the final phase of his time at Arsenal, Özil only sat in the stands for months.
Career in virtual sport
As the newspaper “Hürriyet” reported on Monday, Özil is to open up new business areas. In Indonesia, he has commercial and sponsorship deals worth $100 million. On this occasion, Özil recently met with Sandiaga Uno, the country’s tourism and innovation minister.
In addition, Özil is a self-confessed fan of video games. Advisor Erkut Sögüt explained that Özil will not switch to virtual sport in the near future, but that a future there is conceivable. In addition, the German is said to be working on his own sports streaming service and has already invested millions in it.
