{"id":50832,"date":"2026-04-29T13:30:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T08:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=50832"},"modified":"2026-04-29T13:36:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T08:06:20","slug":"they-took-football-away-from-me-mesut-ozil-opens-up-on-dramatic-arsenal-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/football\/they-took-football-away-from-me-mesut-ozil-opens-up-on-dramatic-arsenal-exit\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThey Took Football Away From Me\u201d: Mesut \u00d6zil opens up on dramatic Arsenal exit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent interview highlighted by The Touchline, former Arsenal star <b>Mesut \u00d6zil<\/b> has reflected emotionally on his high-profile departure from the club. The German playmaker, known for his sublime vision and creativity, revealed the personal toll of being sidelined, stating he felt the club \u201cclosed the door\u201d on him and \u201ctook football away\u201d despite his willingness to speak out on issues he believed in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a star, I had a voice, and I knew I had to speak out on certain things. If I posted, I knew I would get in trouble with Arsenal. But I didn\u2019t care, I posted it and I was happy,\u201d \u00d6zil said. He added: \u201c<b>So they closed the door on me<\/b>. They didn\u2019t let me play anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f \ud835\udde1\ud835\uddd8\ud835\uddea: Mesut \u00d6zil: \"As a star, I had a voice, and I knew I had to speak out on certain things. If I posted, I knew I would get in trouble with Arsenal. But I didn't care, I posted it and I was happy.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"So they closed the door on me. They didn't let me play anymore.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"It\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BmyVWUBbob\">pic.twitter.com\/BmyVWUBbob<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Touchline | \ud835\udc13 (@TouchlineX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TouchlineX\/status\/2049394503778234739?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 29, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The comments appear to reference the fallout following \u00d6zil\u2019s outspoken 2019 Instagram post supporting the Uyghur Muslims in China\u2019s Xinjiang region, which drew strong backlash from Chinese authorities and prompted Arsenal to publicly distance itself from his views, emphasizing the club\u2019s apolitical stance. Soon after, under manager Mikel Arteta, \u00d6zil was omitted from <b>Arsenal\u2019s Premier League<\/b> and <b>Europa League squads<\/b> in October 2020, effectively <b>ending<\/b> his playing time at the Emirates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was difficult, because I was enjoying playing football and they just took it away from me. I thank God that I had my wife and kids with me,\u201d the 2014 World Cup winner continued, highlighting the emotional strain of the situation.<\/p>\n<p>\u00d6zil joined Arsenal from Real Madrid in 2013 for a then-club-record fee and became a fan favourite for his assist-making brilliance, particularly during the early Ars\u00e8ne Wenger years. However, his later seasons were marred by fitness concerns, contract disputes, and the broader political controversy. He eventually left the club in 2021, later playing briefly for Fenerbah\u00e7e and \u0130stanbul Ba\u015fak\u015fehir before retiring in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>This latest reflection revives debates about loyalty, player activism, and club politics in modern football. While some viewed \u00d6zil\u2019s stance as principled, others saw it as <b>disruptive<\/b> to Arsenal\u2019s commercial interests, especially in the lucrative Chinese market.<\/p>\n<p>Fans continue to remember \u00d6zil\u2019s magic on the pitch his no-look passes and game-changing creativity remain iconic. As he focuses on family life (recently welcoming a third daughter), his words serve as a reminder of the human side behind the headlines in elite football.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent interview highlighted by The Touchline, former Arsenal star Mesut \u00d6zil has reflected emotionally on his high-profile departure\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":502,"featured_media":50833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1085,4057],"class_list":["post-50832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-mesut-ozil","tag-top-stories"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/502"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50832"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50836,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50832\/revisions\/50836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}