Mesut Özil has immediately put an end to his career as a professional football player. The 34-year-old game maker reports this on Instagram on Wednesday. Özil writes in an extensive statement that he is too bothered by injuries to continue.
Ozil has played for Turkish Istanbul Basaksehir since the summer, after a tumultuous split with Fenerbahçe. The former assist king of Real Madrid and Arsenal, among others, only came to eight matches for Basaksehir, due to injuries of various keys. That is also the reason why Ozil is already hanging up his shoes at the age of 34.
“After much consideration, I hereby announce my immediate retirement from football,” he wrote M10 Wednesday on Instagram. “I’ve had the privilege of being a professional footballer for almost 17 years and I feel incredibly grateful for that opportunity. But over the past few weeks and months, after battling several injuries, it’s become clearer and clearer that it’s time to big football stage to say hello.”
Ozil sums up his career as ‘an amazing journey, filled with unforgettable moments and emotions’. He also wants to thank all his clubs, coaches, teammates, fans, relatives and friends. “Now I look forward to everything that lies ahead with my beautiful wife Amine, and my two beautiful daughters Eda and Ela. You will hear from me on my social media channels,” Ozil finally promises.
Eighteen-year-old Özil made his breakthrough at Schalke 04 in the 2006/07 season, after which a switch to Werder Bremen soon followed. After two and a half seasons, Real Madrid had seen enough and decided to bring the technician to the Spanish capital. In the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons in particular, Özil turned out to be the absolute king of assists on the European fields, but the following year he had to make way for a new guard. After a few more great years at Arsenal, his career began to decline, partly due to the many conflicts he had with trainers and his political excesses. The German-Turkish Özil came to 92 international matches (23 goals) for the German national team before retiring in 2018.