Mesut Ozil has openly discussed his love of Fenerbahce amid continued speculation linking the Arsenal midfielder with a move to Turkey.
Ozil has been strongly linked with an exit from the Emirates this month having found himself ostracised by Mikel Arteta, the German having failed to feature for the Gunners since March and has since been left out of their squads for the Premier League and Europa League this season.
The 32-year-old is understood to be a target for both Fenerbahce and MLS side DC United with both clubs keen on securing a deal for the player during the current transfer window, and Ozil has suggested he would be open to a switch to the former after discussing his boyhood allegiances to the Turkish side.
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Ozil conducted a Q&A session on Twitter on Monday evening, and was asked about his love about the Istanbul based side:
“I grew up as a Fenerbahce fan as a kid in Germany – every German-Turkish person supports a Turkish team when they grow up in Germany,” he said.
“And mine was Fenerbahce. Fenerbahce is like Real Madrid in Spain. The biggest club in the country.”
Ozil did, however, keep the door open for a potential move to the United States by insisting that moves to Major League Soccer and Turkey were his amongst his ambitions before retiring from the game.
“There are two countries I want to play football in before I retire: Turkey and USA. If I went to Turkey, I could only go to Fenerbahce.”
Ozil signed for Arsenal in a then club-record deal from Real Madrid in 2013 and has since made 254 appearances in all competitions for the north London side, scoring 44 goals and winning the FA Cup on three occasions.
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