Özil bids farewell to Arsenal, joins Fenerbahçe

ISTANBUL

Mesut Özil on his way to Istanbul to complete Fenerbahçe move, the club announced on Jan. 17.

"Club Statement: Our club is bringing Mesut Özil to Istanbul to continue the transfer processes," Fenerbahçe said on Twitter.

Özil also shared photos on Instagram, flying to Istanbul with his family.

Özil, a German national of Turkish descent, joined Arsenal in 2013 after three successful seasons at Spanish giants Real Madrid, where he helped the Los Blancos win a La Liga title, a Spanish Cup, and a Spanish Super Cup.

With 44 goals and 77 assists in 254 games in England, he played a critical role as the Gunners won four FA Cup trophies and reached the UEFA Europa League final in a span of six years.

However, amid a dip in form and fractious relations with current manager Mikel Arteta and his predecessor Unai Emery, Özil has gone from having limited playing time to being completely frozen out of the Arsenal first team.

Left out of this season’s Premier League and Europa League squads, Özil has not made an appearance for the London side since last March.

Attila Szalai joins Fenerbahçe

Meanwhile, Hungarian defender Attila Szalai has joined Fenerbahçe, the club announced on Jan. 17.

The 22-year-old footballer inked a four-and-half year deal with the Istanbul club, it said.

Szalai has played for Apollon Limasol from the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus.

He scored five goals in 40 games for Apollon.