Former Super Eagles skipper Jay-Jay Okocha has expressed delight over Mesut Ozil’s comment in the wake of his move to Turkish club Fenerbahce.
Okocha, who backed the ex Arsenal of England star to succeed at his new club, said they both have similar careers.
Ozil departed Arsenal on a the back of a broken relationship with the London club which kept him on the sideline for almost a season.
During Ozil’s unveiling, the World Cup winner on Wednesday, described Okocha as the star he followed at Fenerbahce and he recalled wearing the iconic number 10 shirt bearing the legend’s name.
“About 20-25 years ago, I was an immigrant Turkish kid who was running after the soccer ball with the Fenerbahce shirt with the number 10 Jay Jay Okocha written on his back in the streets of Gelsenkirchen, thankfully, it was my honour to wear this jersey that I have been dreaming of for many years,” the former Germany international tweeted.
Reacting to Ozil’s comments, the 47-year-old said he feels honoured to get such recognition from ‘a world star player’.
“I was very happy. I did not know about the last tweet Mesut Ozil posted,” Okocha told Goal. “It is very pleasing to be the idol of such a world star player, to inspire him.
“Mesut is a world-class player. It is a very good thing [for him] to come to Fenerbahce. I think he will definitely be successful in Fenerbahce.”
Before calling time on his career, Okocha had spells in Germany, England, France and Turkey, and he thinks Ozil is treading a similar path having previously played in Germany and England.
“Mesut’s career is similar to mine; we both played in Germany and England and he came to Fenerbahce like me now. I am very happy,” he concluded.
Fenerbahce are second placed on the Super Lig table with two points adrift leaders Besiktas.
