Mesut Özil has flown back from Istanbul to continue preparations with Arsenal for his sides clash against Liverpool on Monday.

The 26-year-old used his time off to travel back to Istanbul to meet up with family and friends.

Özil posted a selfie on a the airplane returning to London along with the caption, “Gn8 #selfie #LaFamilia.”

Özil was born into a Turkish family in Germany and maintains close ties with the country of his parents.

The World Cup winner speaks Turkish and even has a street named after him in his families home town of Devrek in north-western Turkey.

The Germany international is coming off the back of an impressive performance against Crystal Palace last weekend.

Özil provided five key passes, assisting Olivier Giroud’s goal and maintaining a passing accuracy of 98%.

The World Cup winner has a total of one assist in two league appearances for the Gunners this season. Özil enjoyed a trophy-laden pre-season winning the Asia Barclays Trophy, Emirates Cup and Community Shield.

Arsenal take on Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on Monday at 20:00.

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