Mesut Ozil is set to leave Arsenal after agreeing a deal in principle to terminate his contract.
The Athletic have reported that Ozil and the club have finally come to an agreement over terminating his contract, which would have seen him earn £7 million between now and his contract expiring in the summer.
The agreement comes ahead of the 32-year-old’s potential move to Turkish club Fenerbahce.
Ozil has been frozen out at Emirates Stadium since March and was not even included in the Gunners’ Premier League and Europa League squads for this season.
But as one of the best-paid players in the Premier League, with the midfielder said to be on around £350,000 per week, the Gunners have struggled to offload the former Germany international.
Fenerbahce will not be able to afford wages of anywhere near that level so it is likely the player will have to take a significant pay cut.
Although it is currently unclear whether the Gunners will also continue paying a proportion of his previous salary when he leaves this month, as has been common when ageing high earners have left clubs in the past.
Ozil’s contract is due to expire this summer but he was set to earn more than £7 million in wages before that happened at the end of June.
And with the player keen to find a new club and Arsenal desperate to avoid spending any more on a player who is unlikely to feature than they need to, it appears a compromise has been found.
On Saturday morning, The Athletic stated a deal has been reached in principle to terminate his contract early.
Ozil has consistently stated it was his desire to remain at Emirates Stadium as he has found himself out of favour in recent years but he was then omitted from the club’s Premier League and Europa League squads.
He was reportedly only told shortly before the transfer window closed, making it hard to find a new club when he was on such big wages.
Ozil, who has Turkish heritage, was reportedly in talks with DC United in the MLS but is said to favour a move to Fenerbahce.
The Athletic state Ozil has already agreed terms with the Turkish Super Lig side.
Ozil joined Arsenal in 2013 for £42.4 million on the back of scoring 27 goals and creating 80 assists in 159 appearances in all competitions for Real Madrid.
His signing was a major signal of intent from the Gunners but he has struggled to live up to expectations for much of that time and the only trophies of note won in that time were four FA Cups, with Ozil omitted from the squad for their victory over Chelsea last summer.
Source: express.co.uk
