Former Arsenal and Real Madrid midfielder Mesut Ozil declared that he is retiring from football at 34 years old.
After progressing through the youth squad of his hometown club Schalke, Ozil transferred to Werder Bremen where he secured the DFB Pokal Cup and played an important role for the team in getting to the 2009 UEFA Cup final.
Ozil then joined Real Madrid, where he earned the La Liga title in 2012 and won the Copa del Rey.
He quickly became one of the team’s most effective players and left behind impressive statistics. He was also very popular among fans and wore number 10.
Ozil spent his best football days in Santiago Bernabeu.
But with the beginning of disagreements between the German star and the club directors and his behavior outside the field, Los Blancos decided to sell him, and Özil left for Arsenal in the summer of 2013.
During Ozil’s tenure at Arsenal, he experienced a combination of peaks and valleys, ranging from notable accomplishments to instances of being excluded from the team.
In the last few years, Ozil played in Turkey, starting with Fenerbahce and later transferring to Istanbul Basaksehir. Moreover, Ozil contributed to the Germany squad that secured victory in the 2014 World Cup.
The German wrote on his Twitter:“Hello everyone.
“After thoughtful consideration, I’m announcing my immediate retirement from professional football.
“I’ve had the privilege to be a professional football player for almost 17 years now and I feel incredibly thankful for the opportunity. But in recent weeks and months, having also suffered some injuries, it’s become more and more clear that it’s time to leave the big stage of football.
Ozil retires having made 598 appearances across his club career, 159 for Madrid and 254 for Arsenal. He scored 98 goals in his career, of which 44 came for Arsenal and 27 in Spain.
