Breaking: Mesut Ozil signs with Istanbul Basaksehir after Fenerbace terminates his contract

It’s official! Mesut Ozil has been unveiled as a new player for Istanbul Basaksehir, just 29 minutes after his contract with Fenerbahce was terminated.

The 33-year-old former Arsenal star only joined Fenerbahce 18 months ago but had his contract terminated on Wednesday.

Basaksehir, who finished fourth last season, made a teasing announcement of Ozil’s arrival on Twitter.

A post on Twitter from the Turkish club simply featured “@M10,” – Ozil’s handle.

The tweet was accompanied by 35 seconds of a popular Turkish song called Kir Zincirlerini

Ozil transferred to Fenerbahce in January 2021 after losing favor under Mikel Arteta at Arsenal.

Although he had signed a three-and-a-half-year contract, his departure after 18 months was confirmed on Wednesday, before his move to Basaksehir was announced.

In an official statement, Fenerbahce announced, “It has been agreed that the contract between our club and Mesut Ozil will be terminated by mutual agreement. We wish Mesut Ozil success for the rest of his career.”

Ozil’s last appearance for Fenerbahce was in March, having played a total of 36 matches for the side, scoring nine goals and providing three assists.

Having joined Arsenal from Real Madrid in 2013, Ozil made 184 Premier League appearances for the club.