Fenerbahce officials met with Wenger ahead of Ozil transfer from Arsenal

Arsene Wenger

Fenerbahce officially unveiled Mesut Ozil today in a signing ceremony held in Istanbul which marked officially marked the end of his time at Arsenal.

Yellow Canaries club president Ali Koc revealed that he met with Arsene Wenger in London ahead of the move and that the former Arsenal manager spoke with head coach Erol Bulut to discuss the playmaker.

READ: ‘Mr Assist’ – Arsenal star sends message to Mesut Ozil after leaving club for Fenerbahce

Wenger consulted Koc and Bulut before official talks took place between Fenerbahce and Arsenal.

Koc revealed the following, “On 8 December we went to London, I met up with Arsene Wenger.

“I asked him how Mesut is doing, if he has injury problems, whether he thinks he is fit, if he thought Ozil would settle in at Fenerbahce?

“Afterwards, he consulted our manager Erol Bulut who spoke to him over the phone.”

Wenger recently told beIN Sports that he believes Ozil still has ‘hunger’ to play football and that he will find what he is craving and looking for in Turkey.

“I’m sure that he’s frustrated at not having played,” Wenger said.

“His hunger must be absolutely [enormous] to play football again.

“Mesut is a guy who needs a warm environment and I believe he will find that more than anywhere else in Turkey.

“Overall, he can provide the balls that the strikers need to win football games. If they do that well, they have a good chance of winning the league.

“I will follow that with great attention.”

Wenger was responsible for signing Ozil from Real Madrid in 2013 for what was then a record transfer fee for the club setting them back £42.5m.

Ozil fell out of favor with the two managers that succeeded Wenger, struggling at times for playing time under the stewardship of Unai Emery and being dropped from the squad entirely this season by Mikel Arteta.

The 32-year-old signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with Fenerbahce.

The Yellow Canaries are currently second in the Super Lig, two points behind leaders Besiktas.

Fenerbahce face Rizespor next and then take on bitter rivals Galatasaray in the Intercontinental Derby.