Former Arsenal star Mesut Ozil dropped from Fenerbahce squad after ‘verbal altercation’ with manager: Reports 

Former Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil has been excluded from Turkish giants Fenerbahce's first team, the Turkish club have announced, as per Sky Sports.

The 33-year-old has been a key player for the Yellow Canaries since joining them from Arsenal in January 2021. The retired German international even captained Fenerbahce in their last league game against Konyaspor, but he was substituted at half-time by Ismail Kartal.

The Istanbul-based club have now announced that Ozil, along with Ozan Tufan, have been left out of the first-team squad. The latter rejoined the club in February following an underwhelming loan spell with Premier League side Watford.

Ozil has been a key player for the Turkish giants this season, having scored nine goals and registered three assists in 26 games across all competitions.

However, the World Cup winner with Germany in 2014 now faces an uncertain future at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, after just 14 months at the club.

Fenerbahce president Ali Koc announced at the end of last year that Ozil was 'unhappy' at the Turkish club as he demanded more first-team action. He also revealed that manager Ismail Kartal was struggling to get the best out of the midfielder.

Koc said in November, as quoted by Sky Sports:

"Ozil wants to play more. From now on, he needs to focus on his game and keep his commercial interests out of it. He needs to think about contributing to Fenerbahce. Our coach also needs to try to figure out how to get the most out of Ozil. There is not a problem, despite what the media says. Mesut is unhappy because he does not play regularly."

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Mesut Ozil left Arsenal under similar circumstances

The former Arsenal midfielder turns 34 in October and now faces an uncertain future at Fenerbahce which could prove to be career-ending for him.

He left the Gunners under a cloud of controversy last year after a fallout with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

Despite the former Real Madrid star being on a ludicrous £350,000-a-week, Arteta had no hesitation in completely exiling Ozil from his squad.

The German was not even included in the Gunners' Premier League and Europa League squads at the start of last season. This meant he did not play a single minute for them for almost 10 months.

The 33-year-old remains a fan-favourite at the Emirates for his obvious quality but his antics off the pitch have always been questionable.

If the situation leads to Fenerbahce parting ways with Ozil, the 33-year-old's could be done in Europe.