Mesut Ozil joins Turkish side Fenerbahce, bids adieu to Arsenal after eight years

After being frozen out of the Arsenal squad for almost a year, midfielder Mesut Ozil has bid farewell to the Premier League giants. The 2014 World Cup winner with Germany has joined Turkish league outfit Fenerbahce after struggling to bag a single minute under manager Mikel Arteta since March last year. With his move to Turkey, he brings an end to his eight-season stint at the Emirates. 

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Ozil Fenerbahce transfer: Ozil leaves Arsenal for Turkish outfit 

Ozil took to Twitter to tweet a couple of images before taking off for Istanbul to complete his move to Fenerbahce. Fenerbahce provided a timely update, tweeting images of the time when Ozil flew off to Istanbul. The club in a statement confirmed that the player was being brought to Istanbul to seal his transfer. 

Further confirming his move to Fenerbahce, the 32-year-old tweeted an image of himself holding the Turkish league outfit's insignia. Ironically, Arsenal are yet to officially confirm that the player has finally departed from the Emirates after his recent struggles under Arteta. 

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Ozil contract expires in June 2021 

Ozil was frozen out of the Premier League and Europa League squads this season. He hadn't played a single minute on the field with the Gunners since March last year. His infamous fallout with Arteta had a direct impact on his game time with his contract set to expire at the end of the current season. 

Arsenal were not keen on extending his stay beyond the current season. Despite the struggle, Ozil, time and again stated that he would be willing to help the team if the manager called him to do so. Apart from Fenerbahce, he was also linked with Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit DC United. Besides, a couple of reports also hinted at Juventus' interest in the midfield maestro. 

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Arsenal stats as Ozil to Fenerbahce materialises 

Having joined Arsenal after a successful spell with Real Madrid, Ozil broke into Arsene Wenger's line-up. He became one of the key players for the French tactician. However, he was sidelined by Unai Emery and subsequently by Arteta. Nevertheless, he managed 254 appearances for the Gunners, racking up 44 goals and 77 assists in all. 

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Image courtesy: Mesut Ozil Twitter