Arsenal and Ozil reach principle contract termination agreement

Arsenal and Mesut Ozil have reached an agreement ‘in principle’ to terminate the contract between them, according to David Ornstein of The Athletic.

The contract, signed in early 2018 after a period of unpleasant uncertainty, was supposed to ease the worries of the club about the prospect of losing their arguably best player at the time and it has been seeing him earn £350,000 per week. However, Ozil’s performances dropped rapidly in quality from that point on, and the Gunners soon came to regret handing him such a lucrative deal. This season, he has been completely left out of Mikel Arteta’s plans, with the manager not even naming him in his Premier League and Europa League squads.

The 32-year-old himself often stated he wouldn’t be leaving the Emirates before the deal was up, which prompted reactions and opinions that he doesn’t mind not playing as long as his wages stay untouched. But recently, strong links with Fenerbahce have appeared, and it seems the former Germany international is indeed on his way out of north London after seven and a half years.

The report says it’s understood that he has already agreed a deal, also in principle, to join the Turkish club as a free agent.