Mesut Ozil has finally opened his goalscoring account for Fenerbahce, eight months after joining the club - and it was his first goal for any side in 18 months.

The former Arsenal and Real Madrid man scored his first and the winning goal for the Turkish side during their 1-0 away win in their Super Lig opener against Adana Demirspor. The playmaker got the second half off to a flying start, recording the only goal of the game after he latched onto a cross from the left to tap it into goal just 11 seconds after the whistle.

The goal was his first since his move to Turkey in January after his seven-and-a-half-year career at Arsenal came to a controversial end. 

Mesut Ozil ended his 18-month goal drought in Fenerbahce's 1-0 win over Adana Demirspor

The 32-year-old hadn't featured for the Gunners since March 7th 2020 with his last appearance coming in March's 1-0 win against West Ham when he assisted Alexandre Lacazette. 

He joined Fenerbahce on a free transfer after his £350,000-a-week Gunners contract was terminated.

Ozil took a severe pay cut of more than £300,000 to terminate his Arsenal contract over five months early and force through his move to his boyhood club.

However, the Premier League side continued to pay 90 per cent of the player's £350,000-a-week salary until the end of June.

Fenerbahce foot the bill for his remaining three years at the club with the total cost working out at £46,700-a-week, according to talkSPORT.

Ozil had been frozen out of Mikel Arteta's team after being left out of both Arsenal's Premier League and Europa League squads for the 2020-21 season. 

He also became embroiled in a PR war with the club, famously offering to pay Gunnersaurus's wages after the north London side made the mascot redundant. 

The German international further sparked outrage in his homeland when he was pictured with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in London. 

He and international teammate Ilkay Gundogan, both of Turkish descent, made the decision to meet with the controversial head of state on the eve of the 2018 World Cup. 

Ozil then became a scapegoat for Germany's underwhelming performance at the tournament, leading to the Arsenal outcast's retirement from the national team and outburst at the 'racism and disrespect' that came his way.

He failed to get off to a flying start at Fenerbahce only making 11 appearances for the club last season with his only notable contribution coming in the form of an assist in their 2-1 loss against Sivasspor on the final day of the season.

The loss was his fourth defeat in six home games with the Istanbul giants for a return of a sole win.

The midfielder left Arsenal having played 254 matches for the club, scoring 44 goals and recording 77 assists in more than seven years. 

He was involved in the 2014 FA Cup final victory against Hull City, which ended Arsenal's nine-year trophy drought, as well as when they defended their Cup crown against Villa a year later. 

He also played a part in the Gunners' Cup triumph over Chelsea in 2017, but came up short against the same opponents in the Europa League final two years later.