Fomer World Cup winning Germany international midfielder Mesut Özil ends 17-years of glorious career by announcing retirement from football..
2023-03-23 10:02Former Germany international midfielder Mesut Özil announced on his personal official social platform account on Wednesday that he will immediately retire as a professional footballer.
Özil wrote in an official letter: "Hello everyone, after much consideration, I announce that I will retire from professional football with immediate effect."
"I have had the privilege of being a professional footballer for almost 17 years and I am very grateful for the opportunity. But in recent weeks and months, after a number of injuries, it has become increasingly clear that it is time to leave the big stage of football."
"It has been an amazing journey full of memorable moments and emotions. I would like to thank all the clubs I (played for) - Schalke 04, Werder Bremen, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Fenerbahçe and İstanbul Başakşehir as well as the coaches who supported me (along the way) and teammates who became my friends."
"Special thanks to my family and my closest friends. They have been a part of my journey from day one and have given me so much love and support in good and bad times."
"Thank you to all my fans who have shown me so much love no matter the circumstances or which club I represent."
"Now, I look forward to walking with me through everything that's happened to me with my beautiful wife, Amine, and my two beautiful daughters, Eda and Ela, however, you can be sure that you will be able to get the latest updates on my social media platforms from time to time."
"See you soon, Mesut!"
The 34-year-old Özil was born on October 15, 1988 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. He is 1.8 meters tall and primarily plays as an attacking midfielder, but he is also capable of playing as a winger. He has dual nationalities of Germany and Turkey.
Özil played for the youth academies of many clubs in Gelsenkirchen when he was a child. He also played for the Rot-Weiss Essen youth academy from 2000 to the first half of 2005. In the second half of 2005, he moved to the Schalke 04 youth academy, and began to represent their reserve team in August of the same year.
In August 2006, Özil made his first-team debut. After making his debut, he was immediately rated as a wonderkid by the German media. However, because of a falling out with the club's executives, Özil put forward a transfer request in the summer of 2008.
On the deadline day of the 2008 winter transfer window, Özil moved to Werder Bremen for €5 million.
During his 2-year spell with the Bundesliga club, Özil won the praises of many people with his excellent passing and scoring ability, he also won the DFB-Pokal once with the club, and reached the Europa League final, as well as being selected as the Player of the Season during the 2008/09 season.
In August 2010, Özil joined Real Madrid for €15 million and experienced the taste of playing for a big club for the first time.
During his 3-year spell with Los Blancos, Özil, who has a formed a telepathic understanding with Ángel Di María , Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Kaká and many more, has set a record of making the most assists throughout Europe for 3 consecutive seasons, and also led the club to win 1 La Liga, 1 Copa del Rey and 1 Supercoppa de España.
On the deadline day of the summer transfer window in 2013, Özil joined Arsenal for a record-breaking £50 million, becoming the most expensive Germany player in football history.
In his 8-year spell with the Premier League giants, Özil's career can be described as glorious first and then ended in disappointment. At the beginning, Özil implemented his high-level of performance and once again set a high number assists that can match Manchester City's Belgium international midfielder Kevin De Bruyne. He also successfully won 4 FA Cup, 1 English Community Shield, reached 1 Europa League final, 1 Carabao Cup final with the club.
However, in 2019, Özil began to be cut from the Gunners squad after criticizing the Chinese government for violating the human rights of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. After that, he was suddenly completely frozen out. Even after he said that he would do his best to contribute his salary while staying in the club, and try his best to keep the mascot Gunnersaurus played by Jerry Quy, who was ruthlessly fired by the club because "the pandemic had seriously impacted the economy", he was dealt with harsher punishment and even eventually had his contract terminated.
After being terminated by Arsenal, Özil fulfilled his childhood dream of joining Fenerbahçe as a free agent at the end of January 2021. However, after former head coach İsmail Kartal took over, Özil's relationship with the club deteriorated because Kartal was depriving him of the opportunity to play.
Regarding this matter, Fenerbahçe chairman Ali Koç then retorted that Özil never delivered a better performance to prove why he deserved more opportunities to play, but was obsessed with off-field endorsement activities instead.
Özil, who broke up with the club, parted ways in July 2022, and he joined İstanbul Başakşehir as a free agent shortly thereafter.
It is a pity that Özil, who was plagued by injuries after joining Boz Baykuşlar, only played 8 times for the Turkish Süper Lig club across all competitions, and had to retire without scoring any goals or assists.
Internationally, Özil began to represent the Germany national team in February 2009 and won the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. However, after a controversy which saw a few high-ranking officers in the Germany Football Association (DFB) discriminates German players with Turkish descent, Özil has chosen to retire from the national team permanently in July 2018.
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