Mesut Özil has “no regrets” about his time at Arsenal after completing his move to Fenerbahce, finally drawing a line under what he called an “amazing journey”.
The playmaker’s transfer had been all but certain since he agreed a settlement to terminate his Arsenal contract last weekend, subsequently bidding farewell to teammates at the club’s training ground and flying to Turkey to sign for his new club. Confirmation was held up by loose ends and a period of quarantine but the 32-year-old is now available to play for Fenerbahce, who are third in the Turkish Super Lig.
“I’d like to thank the club for this amazing journey over the past seven and a half years,” said Özil, whose £350,000-a-week deal had been due to expire at the end of June, in a statement on the Arsenal website. “The support I have felt from the team and fans during my time here has been truly incredible and something I will always be grateful for.
“Together we won trophies for the first time in years and created memories that will last a lifetime. The Arsenal fans will forever remain in my heart.”
Özil thanked Edu, the Arsenal technical director, for helping to reach “a professional and dignified solution” to what had become an unseemly impasse. He clashed with the club over his refusal to take a pay cut last summer, while it became clear in October, when Mikel Arteta omitted Özil from his 25-man squads for the Premier League and Europa League, that both parties would need to move on. There had been doubts over whether an early termination could be reached but now Özil, who had not played for Arsenal since March, will continue his career at the club he followed as a boy.
In a separate message on Instagram, Özil admitted he would have sought a more uplifting ending. “As I said, the past few months haven’t been the easiest,” he wrote. “Like every player, I want to play every minute of football for my team. In life, however, things don’t always play out how we want or expect them to. But it is important to look for the positives in life and not negatives, which is why I try to live life with no regrets and holding no grudges.”
Arteta, a teammate of Özil during his own playing days at Arsenal, said his achievements had been “undisputed” and working with him had been a “privilege”. Özil made 254 appearances for Arsenal, scoring 44 goals and making 71 assists, and won three FA Cups.
While one creative talent departs, Arsenal are moving towards completing the loan of the Real Madrid attacking midfielder Martin Ødegaard. The 22-year-old Norway international is close to joining until the end of the season after Arsenal fended off competition from Real Sociedad.
The signing of Özil is Fenerbahce’s second in two days, with the Turkish club announcing on Saturday they had agreed a deal with QPR for Bright Osayi-Samuel.
