The relevance of sports has changed. The new generations no longer only have traditional sports as favorites or no longer aspire to become a professional in a traditional sport, since the boom of E-Sports, this has changed.
E-sports are gaining more and more power in the new generations. According to a PwC research report on the entertainment industry, by 2020, E-sports exceeded $147 billion, with an annual growth rate of 5.7 percent. By 2025, it is estimated that it will bill $200 billion worldwide, and that is why even the athletes themselves decide to invest in them.
But E-Sports not only attract the attention of young people, but many people play video games in their free time, and it seems that a former Real Madrid playerand World Champion could retire from soccer and become a gamer.
Former Real Madrid playercould become a gamer
Mezut Ozil is one of the many athletes who has created an E-Sports team, called M10 Esports, and according to his agent, Dr.Erkut Sogut, the former Real Madrid player is considering leaving soccer and could focus on becoming a professional e-sports player.
The midfielder’s last few years have not been the best. He stopped being important at Arsenal, and in 2021 he signed for Fenerbahce. After a few games, Ozil, along with teammate, Ozan Tufan, was axed from the Fenerbahce first-team squad following a verbal altercation with the club’s interim manager Ismail Kartal, back in March.
Mesut Ozil of Fenerbahce / Alex Grimm/Getty Images
The 33-year-old player has played 36 games for Fenerbahce and scored eight goals but now finds himself in the very same situation, with incoming manager Jorge Jesus telling him he will not play as he has “had his time”. The former Real Madrid player still has two years left on his contract, but according to his agent, he is hesitating to continue playing soccer.
“I think he will not play soccer in any other club anymore. I can’t see that – it will be Fenerbahce, and that’s it. He will go more into E-Sports, play himself, and maybe become aprofessionalE-Sports player. He’s really good, to be honest, at Fortnite, and I think one day I wouldn’t be surprised if he is competing. He owns a team – M10 Esports – and he has players. He has a gaming house in Germany. He has soccer, like Fifa, and Fortnite”, Sogut told The Telegraph.
Ozil launched his Twitch channel in 2018, and he regularly streams Fortnite. A few years ago, there was a theory that the midfielder’s back problems were related to his addiction to video games.
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