ISTANBUL, March 24. (dpa/EP) –
Fenerbahce announced this Thursday that it is removing the German midfielder Mesut Özil and the Turkish Ozan Tufan from the first team discipline, according to a statement issued by the club itself.
According to the Turkish sports newspaper ‘Fanatik’, Fenerbahce has made this decision indefinitely, although the Turkish team did not want to comment on more details about the decision.
Mesut Özil, world champion with Germany in 2014 and former Real Madrid, Werder Bremen and Schalke player, arrived at Fenerbahce in January 2021 to a great reception from the Turkish fans, who placed great hopes in his signing. However, the euphoria at his arrival soon cooled. The midfielder was not as decisive as expected and he has not reached the performance that he saw in other teams.
In November, club president Ali Koc criticized the player and asked him to focus on his football side. “He has to put aside his business issues and focus more on how he can contribute and give his best for Fenerbahce,” he claimed.
Recently, according to Turkish media reports, he had an argument with the team’s coach, Ismail Kartal, after being substituted at half-time in a 2-1 loss against Konyaspor. This season the German has played 14 games in which he has scored eight goals and has been substituted eight times.
There has long been speculation that Özil wants to terminate his contract, which ends in 2024, this summer and thus go to the United States. If so, it would not be the first time that the 33-year-old’s career would come to an abrupt end, as his departure from London was not without controversy either.