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Mesut Ozil Is Struggling At Fenerbahce After Making Move From Arsenal

Mesut Ozil Is Struggling At Fenerbahce After Making Move From Arsenal

Mesut Ozil joined Fenerbahce on a free transfer but things haven't been going too well.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Mesut Ozil has struggled to get going in his early days at Fenerbahce.

After his lucrative contract was terminated by Arsenal in January, the World Cup winner joined his boyhood club and fulfilled a promise he made to his mother.

The 32-year-old took the No.67 shirt, a nod to his Turkish roots, and made his debut as a late substitute against Hatayspor in the Turkish Super Lig on 2 February.

Image: PA
Image: PA

Fenerbahce won that game 2-1 but Ozil hasn't been able to make an impact at his new club. In five games he has played in, the team have lost three.

They were knocked out of the Turkish Cup by Istanbul Basaksehir and now find themselves in third place in the league, level on points with second-placed Besiktas and three behind leaders Galatasaray.

Their most recent outing resulted in a 1-0 home defeat to mid-table side Goztepe and they will now be desperate to return to winning ways against Trabzonspor this coming weekend.

Image: PA
Image: PA

Even more worrying is the fact Ozil has not scored or assisted a goal during his time on the pitch.

The former Real Madrid and Werder Bremen man had been completely frozen out for the best part of 10 months by Mikel Arteta at Arsenal and he appears to be struggling with match sharpness of late.

His WhoScored ratings for his first batch of appearances are especially poor.

Ozil has also come under criticism in the German press after singing the Turkish national anthem before games.

Turkey's anthem is sung before all games and sections of the German media have taken issue with his decision - particularly as devout muslim Ozil would pray instead of singing while the German national anthem was being played.

He retired from international football with Germany in 2018 and cited "racism" and disrespect" as his reasons.

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Topics: fenerbahce, Football, Mesut Ozil, Turkey, Arsenal