Mainz 05 attacking midfielder Yunus Malli has decided to represent Turkey at senior international level despite playing for the Germany U21 side as a youth.

The Habertürk report quotes Malli as saying: “I have always said I would love to play for the Turkish national team.”

The report described Malli as being the ‘new’ Mesut Özil. The 23-year-old has hit the ground running this season scoring five goals in six league games – only Thomas Muller, Aubameyang and Lewandowski have a higher tally.

Turkish national team head coach Fatih Terim has been in Germany scouting players in the Bundesliga.

Terim said: “Yunus is a player we have been scouting for a long time and after our meeting today he made it clear that he wants to play for Turkey.”

The experienced manager attended the Bayer Leverkusen v Mainz 05 game after which he held a meeting with Bayer stars Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Ömer Toprak alongside Mainz midfielder Malli.

The Mainz start could be eligible to play in the key Euro 2016 Group A qualification games against Czech Republic and Iceland if his paperwork is processed in time.

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