Tributes from the footballing world and beyond are being paid to boxing legend Muhammad Ali who died aged 74.

Arsenal star Mesut Ozil shared a tweet paying his respects to the boxer who he described as being the ‘greatest’ and an inspiration.

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Ozil has commented in the past that Ali was one of his sporting heroes growing up.

The former world heavyweight boxing champion, died at a hospital in the US city of Phoenix, Arizona, after falling ill with a respiratory illness on Thursday.

Ali was named the world heavyweight champion by the World Boxing Association three different times, in 1964, 1974, and 1978.

The boxing legend was also an Olympic gold medalist and widely respected throughout the sporting and non sporting world as a cultural icon.

Ali will go down as one of the greatest athletes in US and arguably world sporting history.

The sporting personality was an outspoken voice against racism and injustice in the world and refused to fight in the Vietnam War which resulted in a four-year suspension from boxing. “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?” He asked.