Adidas to Drop Mesut Özil

Jun 3, 2020

by Pat

Adidas has decided to not renew its sponsorship deal with Mesut Özil, according to a report published today by German paper BILD.

The 7-year deal between Adidas and Özil, which was signed back in 2013 when he still played for Real Madrid, will soon expire and it is stated that the brand has no intentions to extend it.

According to BILD's report, one of the reasons behind the decision is Adidas' need to save money due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Not long ago, Adidas reported a more than 90% drop in income for the first quarter of 2020.

In addition to financial thinking, it's also being speculated that Özil's political stance could have played a role. Özil famously posed for a picture with Turkish President Recep Erdoğan back in 2018, shortly before announcing his international retirement. Earlier this year he criticized China's treatment of the Muslim Uighur minority, which led to Arsenal's match against Manchester City not being broadcast in China. Özil was reportedly also removed from the Chinese version of PES 2020 for this reason.

Asked about the rumors, Adidas spokesperson Oliver Brüggen stated that the brand does not make public statements about contract talks.

Özil has played a major role in Adidas' promotions for the all-new ACE 16 in 2016 and also the return of the Predator two years later.

Also worth noting, Özil recently turned up to Arsenal training wearing a pair of Copa Mundials.

Everything indicates that Özil will have to find himself a new boot sponsor, but stay tuned for updates on this story as we await official confirmation.

In other news, Adidas is rumored to be thinking about signing Leroy Sané. The current Man City player is heavily linked with a move to Bayern Munich this summer, led by former Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer.