Five years after his controversial photo with Recep Erdogan, former soccer world champion Mesut Özil has published another picture with the Turkish president just before the election in Turkey.

On his verified Instagram and Twitter accounts, the 34-year-old 2014 world champion posted a photo on Saturday night in which he smiles and shakes hands with the serious-looking Erdogan; Özil wrote: "We are always with you, Mr. President." On Instagram, he posted another picture with Erdogan.

Elections will be held in Turkey on Sunday. Opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu is ahead in most polls, and a neck-and-neck race is emerging. Erdogan has been president since 2014 and has had more power than ever since the introduction of a presidential system in 2018. He can govern largely bypassing parliament.

Critics fear that the country, which has a population of around 85 million, could slide completely into autocracy if Erdogan wins again. The opposition wants to return to the parliamentary system.

In his noisy resignation from the national team after the preliminary round at the 2018 World Cup, Özil had massively criticized the top of the German Football Association. Before the finals, the Gelsenkirchen-born had been criticized for his photos with the Turkish head of state Erdogan. The 92-time Germany international, who most recently played for Basaksehir Istanbul in Turkey, officially ended his career just under two months ago.