By Oyinlola Awonuga Balogun (The New Diplomat’s Entertainment, Fashion and Sports Desk)
Fenerbahce have pleaded with fans to help fund Mesut Ozil’s £13million wage packet by donating money through a text message campaign, Daily Mail reports.
The German playmaker is currently in Istanbul arranging a free transfer to the Turkish giants after reaching an agreement with current club Arsenal to terminate his contract in north London.
Ozil was earning around £18million-a-year in wages from Arsenal and will be taking a pay cut when he completes a move to Fenerbahce, but the Turkish club’s president Ali Koc admitted his side needs financial support to complete the move.
Koc announced: “We have a request for our fans. Please continue to support us, we are also dependent on your financial support.
“On the day of the signature, I will ask you to break a record. With an SMS campaign.
“Maybe 300,000, 500,000 or maybe even a million text messages come together. This support will do us very good.”
Text messages in the ‘Mesutol campaign’ will cost just under £2 and will be sent to the number 1907, which was the year Fenerbahce was founded.
Reports this week claimed Ozil will be earning £67,300-a-week or £3.5m-a-year until 2024 which is a far cry from the £350,000-a-week he earned at Arsenal.
President Koc is confident the Fenerbahce faithful can rise to the occasion with the Turkish giants currently dealing with £460million in debt.
