From football to Fortnite?! Mesut Ozil’s agent claims the former Arsenal and Real Madrid star could move into ESPORTS at the end of his football career… as time at Fenerbahce draws to a close after he was frozen out
- Mesut Ozil’s time in Turkey appears to be coming to an end after 18 months
- Fenerbahce’s new manager has publicly said Ozil will not play for the club again
- Ozil’s agent Dr Erkut Sogut has revealed his potential plans for his client
- Sogut also questioned Arsenal’s handling of the player’s exit in January 2021
Former Arsenal and Real Madrid playmaker Mesut Ozil could move into esports after the end of his football career, his agent has sensationally claimed.
Ozil’s nightmare at Fenerbahce appears to be drawing to a close after the club’s new manager Jorge Jesus said the 34-year-old German international would not play for them again.
He has not featured for the Turkish Super Lig side since March 20 after he was excluded from the squad following a row with interim head coach Ismail Kartal over his fitness.
Mesut Ozil could swap football for Fortnite, according to his agent Dr Erkut Sogut
Ozil’s nightmare stay at Fenerbahce is nearly over – and he could soon turn to eSports
Kartal did not get the managerial job permanently, but Jesus has pledged to follow in his footsteps and keep Ozil, who earns £350,000-a-week at Fenerbahce, away from the starting XI.
Ozil’s turmoil in Turkey has forced him to look at the next steps in his career – and his agent Dr Erkut Sogut has revealed he could swap football for Fortnite.
‘He will go more into eSports, play himself and maybe become an eSports athlete,’ Sogut told The Telegraph.
Sogut said his client was a keen FIFA and Fortnite player and said he ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ if the midfielder become a professional gamer
New Fenerbahce manager Jorge Jesus said Ozil, 34, will not play for the Turkish club again
‘He’s really good, to be honest, at Fortnite and I think one day I wouldn’t be surprised if he is competing.
‘He owns a team – M10 Esports – and he has players. He has a gaming house in Germany. He has football, like FIFA, and Fortnite.’
Sogut’s comments are perhaps not a surprise given Ozil’s love of gaming. In 2018, then Arsenal manager Unai Emery was forced to deny playing video games was behind a back injury the German had suffered.
Ozil has endured a difficult period since leaving Arsenal in January 2021 and Sogut believes the club could have handled his exit better.
In the lead-up to Ozil’s departure, the player criticised China for its mistreatment of Uighur Muslims, while he himself came under fire for posing for a photo with Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ozil has made 36 appearances for the club and scored nine goals, often captaining the side
He likes to unwind by playing video games and his representative says it’s a viable pathway
‘They were a club that was always neutral in terms of political things but they are not neutral any more, right? They gave it up,’ he added.
‘They can’t just stay neutral in certain situations. Now they have spoken up with Ukraine. They are now taking a position as a club.
‘Now they’re outspoken about issues in the world which when it was Mesut they said: ‘We don’t want to discuss things like that’.
‘But it was a development I think for them as well as a club that things are changing and they have to adapt as well.’
