The Independent

Bayern Munich president and former West Germany international Uli Hoeness has revealed his joy at Mesut Ozil’s retirement from the national team, claiming the Arsenal man has been “s*** for years”.

The 29-year-old explained on Sunday that he would not be making himself available for Germany any longer after criticism and subsequently “racism and disrespect” he has received following his photo with Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and teammate Ilkay Gundogan, prior to the World Cup.

Both players came in for heavy criticism from fans and pundits in their homeland as a result with leading German football figures including Oliver Bierhoff and Ottmar Hitzfeld suggesting that both should not have been allowed to represent their country in Russia.

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He did play in Russia however, with Germany crashing out of the tournament at the group stages, and Hoeness has welcomed his international retirement, claiming Ozil has been getting away with below-par performances for far too long.

“I am glad that this scare is now over. He had been playing s*** for years,” he told Bild. “He last won a tackle before the 2014 World Cup. And now he and his s***** performance hide beyond this picture.

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“Whenever [Bayern] played against Arsenal, we played over him because we knew that was their weak point.

“His 35 million follower boys – that don’t exist in real world – are convinced he has played sublimely when he completes a cross pass.

“The development in our country is a catastrophe. You have to go back to what it is: sport. And from a sporting point of view, Ozil has no place in the national team for years.”

President of the German Football Association (DFB) Reinhard Grindel, who was called out personally by Ozil in his social media post, had called for the World Cup winner to give an explanation for the incident following the World Cup.

“It’s true that Mesut has not commented yet, which has disappointed many fans because they have questions and expect an answer, and they rightly expect that answer,” Grindel told Kicker at the time. “So it’s very clear to me that Mesut, when he returns from vacation, should also publicly give his view.

“We also want to wait and see how Mesut gets involved. It’s fair we give a well-deserved international who made a mistake a chance.”