Mesut Özil has posted a picture on Instagram and Twitter of himself playing football in his hometown in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
The 26-year-old shared the image along with the following caption, “The magic thing about home is that it feels good to depart, and it feels even better to return!”
Özil was born into a Turkish family in Germany and was eligible to represent both his country of birth and the Crescent-Stars at international level.
The 26-year-old went onto become the first player of Turkish origin to win the World Cup with Germany in the 2014 World Cup.
Germany has an estimated 3-4 million Turkish population living predominantly in the industrialised regions in the west of the country.
The likes of Özil, Nuri Şahin, Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Kaan Ayhan were all born in Germany to Turkish parents.
Özil provided nine assists and five goals in 32 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions last season. The World Cup winner has been in good form since the turn of the year winning two Vitality Arsenal Player of the Month and a PFA Fans Player of the Month award.
Arsenal take on West Ham in their opening game of the 2015-16 season next weekend.
