MESUT OZIL made a winning start to life at Fenerbache – his first taste of competitive action for 322 days.
The 32-year-old came off the bench in a 2-1 victory at Hatayspor.
Mesut Ozil made his Fenerbahce debut 322 days after he last tasted competitive actionCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Ozil played a key part of Fenerbahce’s winnerCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Ozil finally ended his Arsenal torment last week when he joined the Turkish giants on a free transfer.
The midfielder had been frozen out by Gunners boss Mikel Arteta – he was not even named in the squad list for the Premier League and Europa League.
But Fenerbahce boss Erol Bulut deemed him fit to make his debut – although it was a fleeting one as he came off the bench in the 77th minute.
But Ozil was involved in the move that led to the eventual match-winning strike – an own-goal from Hatayspor Jean Claude Billong.
After the game Ozil posted about his special moment on Twitter.
He wrote: “Overwhelming feeling to have made my debut for
@Fenerbahce_EN.
“And congrats to the whole squad – 3 crucial points. Special thanks to our goalkeeper @AltayBayindir_1.”
Some Arsenal fans were pleased to see their former player on his new venture.
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Ozil came off the bench in the 77th minuteCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Ozil finally ended his Arsenal nightmare with a move to TurkeyCredit: Getty Images – Getty
One Gooner posted on Twitter: “Mesut Ozil plays a game of football again! Congratulations!”
Another wrote: “The start of a beautiful journey. Lets go.”
Arsenal have managed to save a staggering £32.8MILLION per year by offloading a handful of big-earning flops in January.
The Fenerbahce management seemed pleased with Ozil’s contributionsCredit: Getty Images – Getty
During last month’s transfer window, Arteta focused primarily on trimming the fat on his mega-rich squad.
By flogging just FOUR of the club’s top earners, including £350,000-a-week Mesut Ozil, Arteta has shaved £32.8m off the annual wage bill.
Sead Kolasinac on £100,000, Shkodran Mustafi on £90,000-a-week and Sokratis on £90,000 a week at the Emirates have all been shunted out.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
