Fenerbahce agree in principle to sign midfielder Ozil from Arsenal - Turkish media

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SHOWS: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (MAY 28, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

1. MESUT OZIL AT ARSENAL TRAINING SESSION

2. ARSENAL TRAINING

VALENCIA, SPAIN (MAY 8, 2019) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL)

3. OZIL STRETCHING

4. THEN ARSENAL MANAGER UNAI EMERY

NAPLES, ITALY (APRIL 17, 2019) (ESTE NEWS - ACCESS ALL)

5. ARSENAL TRAINING

6. OZIL

LONDON COLNEY, NEAR LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - OCTOBER 18, 2016) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

7. PLAYERS FEET

8. OZIL AND SHKODRAN MUSTAFI

LONDON COLNEY, LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (SEPTEMBER 12, 2013) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

9. VARIOUS OF OZIL AND ARSENE WENGER WITH ARSENAL SHIRT

VATUTINKI, RUSSIA (JUNE 15, 2018) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

10. GERMANY TRAINING SESSION

11. OZIL WARMING UP

12. TRAINING SESSION

13. MORE OF OZIL

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - MAY 3, 2018) (TURKISH PRESIDENCY HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL)

14. TURKISH PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN WELCOMING OZIL, AS WELL AS TURKISH PLAYER CENK TOSUN AND GUNDOGAN

15. ERDOGAN POSING WITH OZIL

16. GUNDOGAN, OZIL, ERDOGAN AND TOSUN

SINGAPORE (JULY 27, 2018) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

17. ARSENAL TRAINING SESSION

18. OZIL

19. PLAYERS FEET

20. MORE OZIL

21. THEN ARSENAL COACH UNAI EMERY

22. OZIL PLAYING IN PRACTICE MATCH

ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JUNE 7, 2019) (TURKISH PRESIDENCY HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL)

23. OZIL AND HIS BRIDE AMINA GULSE GREET TURKISH PRESIDENT TAYYIP ERDOGAN AND HIS WIFE EMINE ERDOGAN AS WITNESSES AT THEIR WEDDING

STORY: Fenerbahce will sign German midfielder Mesut Ozil from Arsenal for three and a half years for an undisclosed fee, Turkey's private Demiroren news agency and other Turkish media reported on Wednesday (January 6).

While there was no immediate comment on the reports from Fenerbahce, broadcaster A Spor said Ozil and the club had agreed on the transfer in principle and that the 32-year-old would join the former Turkish champions later in January.

Fenerbahce Chairman Ali Koc said previously that signing Ozil, who has Turkish ancestry, was a "nice dream" for the club, who have suffered from financial woes in recent years. Koc had said Fenerbahce would need to offload players to make any transfers in January.

Ozil fuelled rumours about a move to Fenerbahce with an Instagram post about Istanbul on Tuesday. The German has not played for Arsenal since March 2020 and was not named in the squad list for the first half of the current Premier League season.

He has long been linked with a move to Fenerbahce, Turkey's second most decorated club.

Ozil, who is one of the highest-paid players at Arsenal, is out of contract at the end of the season. But the club is looking to offload players in January to trim the squad.

Last week, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had said the club would wait for the January transfer window to make a final call about the German national's fate.

Arsenal are currently 11th in the standings on 23 points, while Fenerbahce are fifth in Turkey's top tier Super Lig on 29 points, two behind league leaders Gaziantep.

(Production: Andy Ragg)