Mesut Ozil finally set for exit at Arsenal with move to Fenerbahce nearly complete

Reports say midfielder will travel to Turkey this weekend and complete move as a free agent

Mesut Ozil with other Arsenal substitutes during the Premier League match at Southampton on June 25, 2020. Getty

Mesut Ozil is challenged by West Ham's Angelo Ogbonna during the Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium on March 7, 2020, his last appearance. AFP

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil being chased by Leeds United's Kalvin Phillips during the FA Cup third round match at the Emirates Stadium on January 6, 2020. AFP

Arsenal's Mesut Ozil after his team went 1-0 down in the Premier League match at home to Manchester City on December 15, 2019. AFP

Arsenal's Mesut Ozil during the Premier League match at home to Southampton on November 23, 2019. AFP

Arsenal's Mesut Ozil skips past Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse. AFP

Arsenal's Mesut Ozil is closed down by Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic during the Premier League match at home to Manchester United on January 1, 2020. AFP

Manchester United's Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Mesut Ozil. AFP

Manchester United striker Anthony Martial under pressure from Mesut Ozil. AFP

Mesut Ozil's seven-and-a-half-year stay at Arsenal is set to end after the two parties reached an agreement in principle to release him from his contract.

The 32-year-old has not played for the Gunners since March and his £350,000-a-week deal was set to expire at the end of the current season.

Reports now suggest, though, that both parties have all-but agreed to tear up the final months of his contract.

Ozil had been expected to leave in the January transfer window and would be able to sign for another club as a free agent should the final few details be ironed out smoothly.

Major League Soccer's DC United had been strongly linked with a move for the former Germany international but Fenerbahce are now believed to be leading the race to sign Ozil.

The Athletic reported that Ozil is expected to travel to Turkey this weekend to complete a move as a free agent.

Having started the first 10 games under Mikel Arteta following his appointment in December 2019, Ozil has not featured since a 1-0 win over West Ham before the coronavirus pandemic saw football grind to a halt.

He was omitted from Arsenal's Premier League and Europa League squads, with Arteta and technical director Edu insisting the decision to do so was down to footballing reasons.

Ozil was criticised in some quarters when he refused to take a pay-cut during the summer, with no football being played and Arsenal looking to balance the books.

He had signed his current deal in January 2018 to become the highest-paid player in the club's history but now looks set to depart on a free.

Arteta said earlier this month that Ozil's legacy at Arsenal is intact regardless of whether he plays for the club again.

"I don't know what is going to happen so I prefer not to talk about that [his future], but what Mesut has done at the football club is unquestionable and that will stay," the Spaniard said.

"It doesn't matter if he plays two more games, 10 more games or none. What he has done is there for the records, for the history of the club, and his contribution I think nobody can discuss that."

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