Turkish Super Lig club Istanbul Basaksehir are keen on an audacious swoop for Arsenal star Mesut Ozil.
Former Germany international Ozil has struggled for form and fitness at Emirates Stadium this season and was left out of the matchday 18 for the 2-0 midweek defeat to rivals Tottenham in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup.
Head coach Unai Emery insists Ozil will return to the squad for Saturday’s match against Burnley but refused to discuss whether or not the 30-year-old will be available for a loan or permanent transfer during the January window.
Inter and Real Madrid are among the clubs to have been linked with Ozil, who is of Turkish descent, but Basaksehir president Goksel Gumusdag has offered him an alternative.
“I hope one day our paths will cross at Basaksehir.
“If he wants to be with us as well, we would do anything to get him.”
Basaksehir are currently six points clear at the top of the Super Lig and the club’s directors have close links to the Turkey’s ruling party and the country’s controversial president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ozil was photographed with Erdogan before the World Cup – a move that was poorly received in Germany and set off a chain of events culminating in the player’s retirement from international football, where he cited “racism and disrespect” over his Turkish roots.