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Ex-national player Mesut Özil: Before saying goodbye to Arsenal
Photo: Nick Potts DPA
Sometimes things take time.
For two years there was total radio silence between Mesut Özil and the German Football Association (DFB).
Since the break following the World Cup in Russia.
Since the great silence after resignation and the racism allegations Özil, at that time the DFB boss was still called Reinhard Grindel.
Grindel's successor Fritz Keller now seems to be trying to get closer.
On Monday Özil made public via Twitter that Keller had already written him a "nice personal letter" in October.
Also from national team director Oliver Bierhoff, who made the affair big with his statements after the World Cup, can now be heard: "If a meeting emerges and everyone sits down at the table, we would be happy," said Bierhoff to the »Bild« newspaper.
"I was already in contact with Mesut on WhatsApp for his birthday, and he replied very nicely."
The charm offensive continues on the other side.
Özil himself raved about “many fantastic memories” from his time as a national player, about “the great era in German football” in the Twitter question time.
Something is moving.
"Then only to Fenerbahce"
And not just on the emotional level.
Özil is clearly on the verge of a move from Arsenal FC to Fenerbahce Istanbul, Fener President Ali Koc said on Tuesday that they had "made progress" in the negotiations, but the transfer was not yet perfect.
Özil had already given the direction on Monday: “There are two countries where I still want to play football before I quit: Turkey and the USA.
If I go to Turkey, then only to Fenerbahce. "
It hadn't gone well for Mesut Özil lately, the 32-year-old wasn't even a replacement at Arsenal FC, probably no longer valued by the club due to Özil's commitment to the Uyghurs in China.
A great career seemed to be coming to a lackluster end, Özil in the sporting dead end, isolated from the club and the association, plus his proximity to Turkish President Recep Tayyip-Erdoğan, which also cost him a lot of sympathy in some places.
"It seemed to me that he had lost his interest in football after the World Cup, especially fatal for someone like Özil, who defines himself almost exclusively through football," says Fatih Demireli, publisher and editor-in-chief of the sports magazine "Socrates", the SPIEGEL.
Demireli has observed Özil's career for many years, at the same time he is also an intimate connoisseur of Turkish football.
A change from Özil to Fener would be understandable for him.
Hype about the possible transfer
"Both sides would put an exclamation mark on it," he says.
Özil, "because he can prove something to himself and others again," the club, because he has been chasing a Turkish championship title for six years now, "for a club like Fener that is a disaster," says Demireli.
Since the first speculations about the transfer coup in the world, the euphoria of the Fener fans has "increased immeasurably, they are already completely infatuated with this transfer," says Demireli: "They only have one subject: Mesut Özil."
There was a time when Özil was something of a persona non grata in Turkey.
Many Turkish fans had resented him that Özil had chosen the German national team, not Turkey.
The displeasure erupted at the international match in Berlin in October 2010, when thousands of Turkish fans booed in the Özil Olympic Stadium.
That is long gone, "even if the non-Fener fans have brought the subject up again immediately, of course," as Demireli says.
The Özil-Erdoğan connection, which culminated in the fact that Erdoğan was invited to the footballer's wedding as a best man, was also discussed controversially in Turkey.
The Fenerbahce fans tend to be critical of Erdogan, but so far there are hardly any critical voices about the upcoming change.
The hype is too big.
Falcao as a warning
What Demireli sees as a danger.
"The pressure of expectation on Özil is so high that he has to have a damn thick skin to withstand it." After all, the 32-year-old had not played football regularly as a permanent reservist for almost two years.
To what extent he could really become a sporting reinforcement for Fener, one has to see first.
When city rivals Galatasaray signed the Colombian superstar Radamel Falcao in 2019, the fans were similarly freaked out.
But Falcao could not meet the huge expectations, now he is the bogeyman for many supporters.
Reconciliation with the DFB, an imminent move to his parents' country, it looks as if Mesut Özil wants to end old conflicts in autumn, sort out his affairs, "fix a lot," as Demireli says.
Mesut Özil has a tattoo on his left upper arm: "Only God can judge me," it says, only God can judge me.
Judged by Özil, many have done that, including in Turkey.
But the chances that he will still find his peace there are not so bad.
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