Mesut Ozil has already given his seal of approval to his potential replacement at Arsenal, Lille midfielder Yusuf Yazici.
Ozil, who has been left out of Arsenal’s Premier League and Europa League playing squads, is out of contract in the summer and is set to leave the club after seven seasons.
Turkish international Yazici has attracted increased attention this season after scoring hat-tricks against Sparta Prague and AC Milan in the Europa League.
The 23-year-old has been tracked by Arsenal since Arsene Wenger’s time in charge and was subject to a £14.5million bid for him when he was with previous club Trabzonspor, according to the Daily Mail.
Ironically, Yazici has another fan at the club, with frozen-out star Ozil talking up the ability of the man who could replace him at Arsenal back in 2018.
“I really like Trabzonspor duo Yusuf Yazici and Abdulkadir Omur, they are incredible talents,” Ozil told Turkish outlet Hurriyet. “Yusuf Yazici is an amazing No 10. We have a lot of similarities and I myself in him. His left foot, his position, his close passing and calmness on the ball. We will see Yusuf at a big European club in the near future.”
Yazici only joined Lille from Turkish side Trabzonspor in August 2019, but his form this season means he could be set to move on from the French side already.
The midfielder’s agent Adem Cebeci has been talking up his potential, claiming Lille will look to sell him on for a big fee in the near future.
“It is necessary to be humble, but Yusuf’s achievement of this performance is the result of planned and patient work,” Cebeci told DHA, as reported by Sporsun. “It is really an honour for the big clubs to take care of Yusuf. Because Yusuf has goals and is moving towards this goal.
“(Lille) Sporting director (Luis) Campos likes Yusuf’s game very much. That’s why he worked hard for his transfer.
“When Yusuf reaches his true potential, they want to sell him to very good clubs for a very good price, and that doesn’t seem too far.”
Yazici has scored eight goals and assisted five more in 37 appearances for Lille so far, while he has netted one goal in 24 caps for Turkey.
Lille have made a flying start to the season and sit second in the Ligue 1 table, two points behind Paris Saint-Germain. Christophe Galtier’s side are also top of Group H in the Europa League, ahead of Milan, Sparta Prague and Celtic after three matches.
