Mesut Özil joins Istanbul club Başakşehir

Istanbul club Başakşehir signed a contract with Mesut Özil on Thursday.

Özil signed one-year contract with Başakşehir with an optional extension of another year.

The 33-year-old wrote a farewell message to Fenerbahçe on his official Twitter account on Wednesday.

"One of the things that make life is that it is full of uncertainties," Özil said, adding: "Our plans, desires and wishes may not always go in the direction you want them to. I wanted to achieve success by getting more chances to play in the Fenerbahçe jersey, which has always been my childhood dream."

In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Başakşehir shared club President Göksel Gümüşdağ's 2018 quote about the possible transfer of Özil: "One day our paths will cross in Başakşehir."

Fenerbahçe announced on its website that Özil's contract with the club has been mutually terminated the same day.

The 33-year-old German midfielder had been dropped from the Yellow Canaries' main squad.

Özil, who played for Real Madrid and Werder Bremen, joined Fenerbahçe in 2021 from Arsenal.