The ‘New Mesut Ozil’ Yunus Malli will represent Turkey at international level

Emre Sarigul

October 31, 2015

The ‘New Mesut Ozil’ Yunus Malli will represent Turkey at international level — Mainz' midfielder Yunus Malli (L) and Leverkusen's midfielder Lars Bender vie for the ball during the German first division Bundesliga football match between 1 FSV Mainz 05 v Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Mainz, Germany, on April 11, 2015. AFP PHOTO / DANIEL ROLAND RESTRICTIONS - DFL RULES TO LIMIT THE ONLINE USAGE DURING MATCH TIME TO 15 PICTURES PER MATCH. IMAGE SEQUENCES TO SIMULATE VIDEO IS NOT ALLOWED AT ANY TIME. FOR FURTHER QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT DFL DIRECTLY AT + 49 69 650050. (Photo credit should read DANIEL ROLAND/AFP/Getty Images)

Mainz 05 attacking midfielder Yunus Malli has opted to represent Turkey at senior international level.

The rising star played for the Germany U21 side as a youth but has decided to switch allegiances and represent the country of his parents.

Mainz 05 shared a tweet on their official Twitter account confirming that Malli will play for Turkey and that he has been selected for the Crescent-Stars clash against Qatar in November.

//twitter.com/Mainz05en/status/659706265388638208

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 six goals in 10 league games – only Thomas Muller, Aubameyang and Lewandowski have a higher tally.

“I am honoured to represent Turkey and cannot wait to start playing,” Malli told the Milliyet newspaper.

Turkish national team manager Fatih Terim has been in Germany scouting players in the Bundesliga and held a meal with Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Malli and Ömer Toprak.

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