Mesut Ozil to move to Fenerbahce? Turkish media reports fuel speculations

Gunners playmaker Mesut Ozil will reportedly be signed by Fenerbahce from Arsenal for three and a half years for an undisclosed fee, Turkey's private Demiroren news agency and other Turkish media reported on Wednesday.

Mesut Ozil has not played for the London-based club since before the first lockdown last year. He was not included in Arteta's squad for Premier League.

Ozil is one of the highest-paid players in Arsenal and has previously refused MLS clubs. However, the 32-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season.
Fenerbahce Chairman Ali Koc said previously that signing Ozil, who has Turkish ancestry, was a "nice dream" for the club, who have suffered from financial woes in recent years. Koc had said Fenerbahce would need to offload players to make any transfers in January.

The German player fuelled the transfer speculation with the Turkish club after an Instagram post about Istanbul on Tuesday. The German has not played for Arsenal since March 2020 and was not named in the squad list for the first half of the current Premier League season.

He has long been linked with a move to Fenerbahce, Turkey's second most decorated club.

Last week, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had said the club would wait for the January transfer window to make a final call about the German national's fate. But the club is looking to offload players in January to trim the squad.

Arsenal are currently 11th in the standings on 23 points, while Fenerbahce are fifth in Turkey's top tier Super Lig on 29 points, two behind league leaders Gaziantep.

(Inputs from Reuters)