Arsenal outcast Mesut Ozil ‘to be offered lifeline by Turkish champs Istanbul Basaksehir’

MESUT OZIL has reportedly been handed a career lifeline by Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir.

The newly-crowned Super Lig champions already boast a number of ex-Premier League stars including Demba Ba, Martin Skrtel and Gael Clichy.

And claims Ozil is the next name on their shopping list.

The German playmaker, 31, fell out of favour under old Arsenal boss Unai Emery.

And he looks to have slipped even further down the pecking order since Mikel Arteta’s arrival at the Emirates.

Indeed, Ozil has featured just 18 times this season, yielding one single goal.

And with only a year left on his £350,000-a-week contract, Arsenal are keen to get him off their wage bill.

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Istanbul Basaksehir are now ready to make a move for Ozil, who has been linked with other Turkish sides including Galatasaray, Besiktas and Fenerbahce.

And Arteta has opened the door to a move after revealing Ozil was not guaranteed to receive a recall to Arsenal’s matchday squad for the game against Aston Villa.

Arteta said: “Mesut is training at the moment, like every other player, he is training.

“You have to pick from 23, 24 players and I will do that today.”

There are also doubts over Shkodran Mustafi’s fitness after he limped off during Arsenal’s impressive FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City.

Arteta added: “We are assessing Mustafi after he had to come off, because he felt something in his hamstring.

“So we have to see how he is in the next few days.

“For Musti to come off, that’s not very usual that he has to come off when he’s not injured.

“We will have to see today and get the news from the doctor.”