Zero goals, zero assists – Ozil’s dreadful start to life at Fenerbahce

Stefan Bienkowski

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:42 CDT
• 5 min read

Mesut Ozil’s move from Arsenal to Fenerbahce in the January transfer window was always going to be a huge risk. 

The former German international was earning no less than £350,000 a week at the Premier League giants and while he seemingly took a bit of a pay cut to make the move to Turkey his arrivals still forced the club president to ask fans for donations. 

Indeed, Ozil’s transfer may have proved popular with fans but the attacking midfielder still had a lot of work to do in order to prove he was worth the extraordinary money he was still getting paid. And to date he simply hasn’t done that. 

How good has Ozil been at Fenerbahce? 

To date, Ozil has featured in seven games for the Istanbul side but has so far failed to score or set up a single goal for the Turkish giants.

Although the 32-year-old playmaker didn’t arrive at the club fit enough to start in his first two games – a 2-1 win over Hatayspor and then a 1-0 defeat to rivals Galatasaray – Ozil has since started each of Fenerbahce’s last five games in the Turkish top flight. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mesut Özil (@m10_official)

With more and more game time on the pitch, there are some suggestions that Ozil is improving for Fenerbahce. 

Although he hasn’t yet scored for his new club, the former Arsenal star is averaging around 1.6 shots per game and 0.5 shots on target per game. That may not seem like much but it’s over twice as many as he managed in the Premier League last season. 

Of course, shots don’t mean much if Ozil isn’t ultimately putting them in the back of the net and until he does then it will only be a matter of time before Fenerbahce fans begin to wonder whether they’ve signed a former World Cup winner or just a dud.