Mesut Ozil's exclusion from Fenerbahce's squad is reportedly in relation to a verbal altercation with the club's interim manager.
On Thursday, the Turkish giants issued a statement confirming Ozil, as well as former Watford loanee Ozan Tufan, have been axed for the foreseeable future.
The short statement read: "Our Football A Team players Mesut Ozil and Ozan Tufan were excluded from the squad as per the decision taken. It is announced to the public."
Ozil, who joined Fenerbahce in January 2021, captained the side in their most recent fixture, a 2-1 win over second-placed Konyaspor.
But the former Arsenal and Real Madrid star was taken off at half-time with the team 1-0 down. Fener then scored twice through Kim-min-jae and Dimitris Pelkas to seal a comeback win.
According to football.london, Ozil had a disagreement with Fenerbahce's interim manager Ismail Kartal and was subsequently removed from the squad.
The World Cup winner had been suffering from a lower back problem earlier this season and reports in Turkey said he was described as being "physically incompetent" in his last outing.
At the end of last year, Fenerbahce's president Ali Koc was critical of Ozil in an interview discussing his situation.
"Since the start of this season, Mesut Ozil has been compared to Robin van Persie," Koc told Fenerbahce TV.
"Ozil wants to play more. From now on, he needs to focus on his game and keep his commercial interests out of it. He needs to think about contributing to Fenerbahce.
"Our coach also needs to try to figure out how to get the most out of Ozil. There is not a problem, despite what the media says. Mesut is unhappy because he does not play regularly."
He's played 37 times for Fenerbahce, scoring nine goals but it's said that Ozil isn't too happy in Istanbul.
He ended up in a similar situation at Arsenal, where he fell completely out of favour under Mikel Arteta.
After the suspension of the Premier League in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ozil didn't pull on the Arsenal shirt again after being frozen out.
Following a long period out of the picture, his £350,000-a-week contract was terminated to allow his move to Fenerbahce.
Recently,a fan asked Ozil to say 'Ya Gunners Ya' - his old battle cry - in a video but the 33-year-old refused.
Topics: fenerbahce, Mesut Ozil, Germany, Arsenal
Josh Lawless