The next bitter news for Max Meyer: At Fenerbahce Istanbul, the former FC Schalke 04 footballer is about to be eliminated. The big Turkish club no longer takes the German playmaker to the training camp in Graz, Austria. That also applies to Mesut Özil.
Max Meyer has a problem again. The footballer from Oberhausen, who is still suffering from the oppressive burden of the “world class” label, is no longer needed by his employer. The Turkish big club Fenerbahce Istanbul renounced the services of the 26-year-old. After coach Jorge Jesus had recently declared that he was no longer planning with the central midfielder, he has now made his announcement and will not play Meyer in the training camp in Graz, Austria.
The former Schalke threatens the next long and cracking season of frustration. He is tied to “Fener” for one more year. His contract expires in summer 2023. It seems pretty unlikely that he will appear again for the club. Emre Mor has just been signed for his position. The former top talent is known from his time at Borussia Dortmund, which was not particularly successful. By the way, Meyer shares the fate of the sorted out in Istanbul with a former world champion, Mesut Özil is also on the brink of extinction.
For the four-time Germany international, it’s the next bitter leg in a career that would take him to the top and ended in a shattering crash. Its market value is “only” 500,000 euros, once, in April 2018, it was valued at 20 million euros. He was then in the best form of his career, but then gambled badly. The “world class” label was his sporting undoing.
The label was attached to Meyer by his advisor when he negotiated a new contract with FC Schalke 04 in winter 2018. Roger Wittmann argued Meyer was someone who could be a regular at any top club in Europe. The hoped-for mega-contract (it should be 5.5 million a year) was never signed. After that, the midfielder’s bitter wandering years began, which had been accompanied by malicious mockery. Meyer was once considered a great talent at FC Schalke 04, but after moving to Crystal Palace in the summer of 2018 he did not make the breakthrough in England. He came to Denmark in the second half of last season via stations in Cologne and Istanbul. And now back to Turkey.
He was loaned to FC Midtjylland in the first half of 2022 and won the League Cup with the Danish first division club, narrowly missing out on winning the championship. Although Meyer was used regularly, he was unable to play a formative role. And in the darkest irony of his fate, he also missed a penalty against Paok Saloniki in the Conference League. He was the first to get to the point and failed because of Alexandros Paschalakis. Meyer was the only one who forgave – Midtjylland was out. That he got his club into the penalty shoot-out in the first place with his good cross. Doesn’t matter. Tragic. Like his career. A new employer? So far not in sight.
