Mesut Ozil might be done at Fenerbahce, despite having 18 months left on his contract.
Jorge Jesus, the newly-minted Fenerbahce manager, declared straight away to reporters in Turkey that he had no plans to bring the Germany international back into the fold, saying that as far as he’s concerned, the “end of the Ozil era” had arrived at the club.
Ozil moved to Fenerbahce in January of last year, with Arsenal eager to offload his massive salary, and became a regular starter straight away. In 2021-2022, Ozil captained the team, but ended up in a dispute with interim head coach Ismail Kartal in March that saw the club back the boss and suspend Ozil after an on-field argument.
Ozil didn’t dress for any of Fenerbahce’s final eight league games (with the club going unbeaten during that time), and for Jesus, the future doesn’t include the 33-year-old playmaker.
“He had his time, his space. He has a beautiful history in Turkey, nobody can take it away from him,” Jesus said in his first press conference since taking charge of one of Turkey’s biggest clubs. “The most important thing here is not the coach Jorge Jesus, the most important thing here is not the player Ozil, the most important thing here is not any player. The most important thing here is Fenerbahce.”
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