The “ Assist King ” has left the build as Mesut Ozil heads to boyhood club Fenerbahce after agreeing to terminate his Arsenal condense with six months remaining. It was n’t supposed to be this way ; in fact, Arsenal fans once hoped he ‘d stay forever. Ozil ‘s £42.4 million arrival from veridical Madrid in September 2013 and his subsequent £350,000-a-week batch to stay at the golf club, signed five years late, were heralded as landmark moments for the Gunners in their avocation of a retort to former glories. At beginning, Ozil had a unite effect on a fan basal whose disgruntlement under Arsene Wenger was barely beginning. But over clock time, the midfielder became the most polarize human body at a club evolving dramatically behind the scenes as the game ‘s elect clubs disappeared over the horizon. – Ozil confirms Fenerbahce move, says he’s fit to play
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In the end, Ozil, heralded as the new Dennis Bergkamp, ended up equally peripheral as Barcelona loanee Denis Suarez. His groundbreaking narrow morphed from a affirmation of purpose for a baseball club near the crown to a cripple burden for a team in indigence of serious repair. Ozil became a diamond-encrusted outcast ; a thick cut of Black Forest gateau at a clubhouse on a diet. Ozil still commands ferocious support on social media. One reason Arsenal offered him such a huge engage in the inaugural seat was his marketing world power and on-line pull. At the time of spell, Arsenal have 16.9m Twitter followers ; Ozil ‘s stands at 25.8m. On Instagram, the Gunners boast 18.8m ; Ozil has 23.5m. Yet alternatively of a symbiotic, mutually beneficial kinship, Ozil increasingly resorted to social media to communicate his outcast condition as Arsenal sought to cut ties with a player once seen as the amulet of a new earned run average but now a keepsake of past mistakes. Each side blames the other for how this played out, but how did it come to this ?Mesut Ozil was left out of the squads for both Premier League and Europa League this season. Richard Heathcote/Getty Images Ozil has been an affectional subject ever since joining Arsenal 7½ years ago, and it ‘s difficult to underestimate the excitement generated by his arrival. It was billed as more than a transfer. A class earlier, in 2012, Arsenal had sold Robin van Persie to Manchester United, the latest in a long line of talents either approaching or at the point of their careers who ‘d go on to fulfil that promise elsewhere. Van Persie would win the Golden Boot with 26 goals and burn United to the Premier League entitle in Sir Alex Ferguson ‘s final season. once bitter adversaries, here was Wenger handing Ferguson, his longtime equal, the missing firearm in his perplex. Years of frugality due to the self-funded move from Highbury to Emirates Stadium rendered Arsenal ineffective to compete at the top end of the transfer market, specially one bloated by the billions of Manchester City, who followed Chelsea in fast-tracking their way to achiever through lavish outgo. Arsenal ‘s trophy drought dated back to 2005, weighing heavier on Wenger ‘s shoulders with each passing year. But by landing Ozil, who agreed to the motivate on Sept. 2, 2013, Arsenal were last competing. More than that, they were signing a bona fide star for Real Madrid and Germany — a playmaker about to turn 25 years old, with the pedigree to add real potency to Wenger ‘s aesthetic approach. In a near-perfect distillation of the transition the Gunners were making, earlier that sidereal day they signed goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano on a season-long loan from Palermo, a cope more in keeping with a transfer window in which they besides agreed terms with 20-year-old french striker Yaya Sanogo and re-signed midfielder Mathieu Flamini. But, with the clock ticking down to the deadline, Arsenal shattered their remove record about three times over to pay £42.4m for Ozil. He became the third-most expensive sign in british football. Earlier that summer, then-chief executive Ivan Gazidis told an Arsenal fan forum that “ we are beginning to see the escalation in our fiscal firepower ” and Ozil ‘s arrival was proof that palaver could come to fruition. Except Gazidis had in fact originally gone to Madrid to enquire about signing Angel Di Maria. A deal for Ozil only materialised as a possibility when coach Carlo Ancelotti told the Germany international that he would not be a guarantee even and, with Wenger a long-run admirer, Arsenal moved in to pounce, reportedly much to Cristiano Ronaldo ‘s chagrin .Ozil’s move in 2013 was heralded as a major declaration of intent. Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Ozil settles in, but Arsenal spend poorly around him

Ronaldo ‘s frustration at Ozil ‘s exit from Madrid emanated from losing the ammunition provided by a man dubbed the “ Assist King. ” It took just 11 minutes into Ozil ‘s Arsenal debut to set up his beginning goal for Olivier Giroud. His first temper ended with silverware, the 2014 FA Cup. They would sign advancing Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona that summer excessively, another considerable coup for around £35m, and retain the trophy a year later. In 2015-16, Ozil reached new heights, totalling 19 assists — one short of the record held by Arsenal caption Thierry Henry ( 2002-03 ) and Man City ‘s Kevin De Bruyne ( 2019-20 ). According to Opta, Ozil created 146 chances that season, 10 more than any other player has managed since the company started its records about 20 years ago. A stunning polish to win a Champions League group stage plot against Ludogorets at the beginning of November ranks to this day as the best goal he scored for the club. however, this season is possibly where things started to go wrong. Wenger declared in the summer of 2015 that his squad was good enough without any additions beyond seasoned goalkeeper Petr Cech from Chelsea. Arsenal would be the only team in Europe ‘s top five leagues not to sign an outfield player ( though they added Mohamed Elneny in January ), yet the Gunners finished second that season, 10 points behind shock champions Leicester City. Many of the established teams looked at Leicester ‘s incredible entitle win as both a fairy fib and a miss opportunity of their own, but possibly none more sol than Arsenal. Wenger subsequently admitted his “ regret and guilt. ” What followed was a series of missteps in the market. The Gunners signed Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi, Lucas Perez for around £86m in the summer of 2016. Ozil ended the 2016-17 season with nine Premier League goals and eight assists, but the Gunners finished outside the top four for the first fourth dimension in Wenger ‘s reign, dating back to 1996 .

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Against this backdrop, Ozil and Sanchez, the team ‘s two standout performers, entered the final year of their contracts as the 2017-18 season began, and their relationship with the rest of the police squad became complicated as negotiations dragged on. Sources have told ESPN that Ozil and Sanchez missed “ club days ” — once a calendar month, players would have to give up their time to fulfill the clubhouse ‘s assorted commercial, media and market contracts — on more than one occasion. It is sympathize the couple kept each early inform of their contract talks, knowing their bargaining exponent was evening greater combined. A distribute to sell Sanchez to Manchester City collapsed in the summer window, and the situation began to grow toxic. Sanchez ‘s on-field form fell off a cliff and sources have told ESPN he stopped replying to home staff emails. Relations never deteriorated to the same extent with Ozil, and by the clock Sanchez was allowed to join Manchester United in January 2018 — with Henrikh Mkhitaryan coming the other way in a rare “ trade deal ” between two top clubs — Arsenal recognised they needed to make another affirmation of intent. The pressure to stop another top player leaving — a past they felt they ‘d left behind — had reached a critical level. And thus, on the day they broke their transfer read to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund for around £56m, it was announced Ozil had signed a £350,000-a-week deal, a contract annex that would shatter the cabaret ‘s existing wage social organization. Sources have told ESPN that Aubameyang wanted to know if Ozil was staying before agreeing to join the clubhouse and, similarly, Ozil had asked for indications the club would quickly invest in the squad to get second into the Champions League, having already acquired striker Alexandre Lacazette for £46.5m from Lyon. meditation over Wenger ‘s future was reaching fever pitch. ultimately, Gazidis determined that Ozil would be the team ‘s central component no matter who was in charge, but things panned out rather differently .

Arsenal try to evolve, Ozil left behind

The three key figures involved in Ozil ‘s contract negotiations — Wenger, Gazidis and chief negotiator Dick Law — all left the club by the goal of 2018. Gazidis had quietly begun stripping back Wenger ‘s autonomy, appointing nine newfangled department heads and hiring Sven Mislintat from Borussia Dortmund to head up the club ‘s recruitment. The date of coach Unai Emery was designed to inject bracing department of energy into a bore backroom apparatus, re-establishing a impregnable make ethic and banishing a culture of consolation that had permeated the dressing room under Wenger, who although a fervent patron of Ozil ‘s, even had reservations about the huge engage he had been given. Ozil ‘s dreamy style and intermittent form made him an obvious aim. emery recognised his talent, but questioned his motivation. The fresh power brokers, which besides included former Barcelona executive Raul Sanllehi as mind of football, came to view Ozil and his contract as a symbol of past largess, and the potency of Emery ‘s relationship with Ozil fluctuated. There were some memorable moments, particularly when wearing the captain ‘s armband against Leicester on Oct. 22, 2018 — a finish and assist barely did a brilliant overall display justice. however, he was used meagerly throughout the temper, with Emery voicing concerns over his seaworthiness and commitment. criticism that Ozil failed to produce in the big games lingered, particularly after the 2019 Europa League concluding, when he was substituted for adolescent Joe Willock with the Gunners losing 4-1 to Chelsea. Arsenal tried to move Ozil on that summer but failed to find a club fix to take on his wages. Ozil ‘s attitude was again questioned in certain quarters, though there is conflicting information as to whether he acted up due to mismanagement or out of arrogance. Sources have told ESPN that, on one occasion, Ozil turned up at the golf club ‘s London Colney train earth for treatment on an injury entirely to be sent dwelling after being told there were no treatment tables available .

‘Football reasons’ behind Ozil’s exile, or something else?

Emery ‘s tenure unravelled — several leading players, not equitable Ozil, became disillusioned — and he was sacked in November 2019. Interim boss Freddie Ljungberg restored Ozil to the side, but cursorily lost solitaire, citing the moment when he kicked his gloves into the breeze after being substituted against Manchester City as one to “ make a stand ” against because “ at Arsenal, that ‘s not how we behave. ” New arrival Mikel Arteta then started Ozil in his first 10 Premier League games as Gunners foreman, albeit with modest returns. Ozil ‘s public criticism of China ‘s treatment of the Uighur Muslim population caused diplomatic issues for the club, but the importance of this in his marginalization is overplayed given that he hush stayed in the team. It was lone in March 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, when he refused to join the majority of his teammates in taking a pay geld, that Ozil fell out of favor for dear under Arteta. The Spaniard has cited “ football reasons ” for leaving Ozil out, but whatever the shift in style of play, there have been many games when 20 minutes of Ozil would barely have made the site bad. Arteta was cardinal to convincing the team to take a reduction in wages at a meter when their Premier League counterparts were discussing deferrals. He personally intervened to negotiate with players on behalf of the ownership, but Ozil wanted more assurances over where the money would go. That stance deepened the inner divisions because if Ozil ‘s contract was a symbol of distinguished think, COVID-19 had accelerated Arsenal ‘s switch back towards greater fiscal conservatism, making 55 non-playing staff pleonastic, reducing the scout network and even dispensing with Sanllehi. Sources told ESPN that it felt personal to Arteta that Ozil would not heed his call for integrity in taking the cut, and any luck of a reconciliation between the two was gone. They did not speak much after that, exchanging bare pleasantries whenever their paths crossed at the train ground. Ozil continued to train alongside the first-team, giving out advice and sportswear from his M10 brand to several of the younger police squad members.

Arteta consequently left him out of his Premier League and Europa League squads as the club sought an passing scheme, leaving Ozil stranded on 254 appearances, scoring 44 goals and registering 77 assists. Once it became clear his situation at Emirates Stadium would not change this month, Ozil ‘s camp began exploring long-standing interest from Fenerbahce and MLS side D.C. United. Live tweeting about Arsenal games and offering to pay the engage of club mascot Gunnersaurus could only sustain him for then farseeing. In the conclusion, Ozil ‘s turkish roots ( his grandparents emigrated from Turkey to Germany ) and actual affinity for Fenerbahce won the day, with the major fiscal obstacle removed as Arsenal agreed to pay up the majority of the £7m owed over the remainder of his contract. few players in the game possess Ozil ‘s technical ability. He provided many moments of pure joy in an Arsenal shirt, memories that should not be diminished by his latter-day troubles. But it is impossible to escape a lingering sense of regret on all sides that Ozil leaves Arsenal with a assorted bequest. In the case of a actor celebrated for providing assists, the buttocks line is that neither party did enough to help the other .