Ozil eyes Turkey or US move as he nears Arsenal exit

London (AFP) – Arsenal misfit Mesut Ozil has revealed he plans to play his football in Turkey or the United States when he finally leaves the Premier League club.

The German has not played for Mikel Arteta’s side since March last year and has just six months left on his contract at the Emirates.

He dropped plenty of hints about his next destination in a Twitter question and answer session, with Fenerbahce and DC United reported to be among the teams leading the chase for his signature.

The 32-year-old World Cup winner was asked if he would continue his career when he left Arsenal, whom he joined in 2013.

“I definitely will,” he replied. “There are two countries I want to play football in before I retire: Turkey and USA. If I went to Turkey, I could only go to Fenerbahce.”

Ozil, the highest-paid player in Arsenal’s history, said he was a Fenerbahce fan when growing up in Germany.

“Every German-Turkish person supports a Turkish team when they grow up in Germany,” he said. “And mine was Fenerbahce. Fenerbahce is like Real Madrid in Spain. The biggest club in the country.”

Arteta made the decision not to select Ozil when the Premier League resumed in June after being halted early in the coronavirus pandemic.

Before football was suspended, the former Real Madrid playmaker had been a regular under the Spaniard but has failed to feature since and was not included in the club’s Premier League or Europa League squads for the first half of the current campaign.

“There have been many ups and downs so far, but all in all I’ve never regretted my decision to join Arsenal,” Ozil insisted.

“I’ve enjoyed that time a lot and I’ve thought we’re really on a very positive way,” he added. “But after the break things unfortunately changed.”