According to Mundo Deportivo [translated by Sport Witness], Arsene Wenger has given permission to Mesut Ozil and his agent Erkut Sogut to negotiate a move away from the Emirates in January.
Arsenal appear to have given up hope on getting the Germany international to sign a new contract at the Emirates and would rather secure a transfer fee in the new year rather than lose him for free next summer.
The Catalan press believes that Barcelona now favours a cut-price move for Ozil, somewhere in the region of €20 million, rather than a budget-busting deal for Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho.
Obviously, the terms need to suit Ozil who knows that he could seal a bumper deal as a free agent. The report suggests there could be a sticking point over the length of the contract on offer with Barcelona, as things stand, only willing to offer an initial 18-month deal.
So what do we make of this? While the club would ideally hold onto its biggest stars as it looks to secure a return to the Champions League, it wouldn’t be surprising if either Sanchez or Ozil did leave in January.
Last month, Wenger noted of possible sales: “In our situation, we have envisaged every solution. It is possible.”
The key to making the situation slightly more palatable is whether incoming funds are reinvested. Looking back at the summer we would have let Sanchez leave for City if a deal for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar could have been done in time.
Perhaps the arrival of new Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat might aid future dealings. We’ll see.
This makes me sad…..
Me too. Gutted.
Been my favourite player over the last few seasons. Such a joy to watch 🙁
I named my cat Ozil! I really worried about him going to united, as long as Ozil and Sanchez don’t move to a rival I can understand that – despite how gutted I’d be to lose them.
At least you didn’t call it Cesc Fabregcat
Robin Van Pussy
No need to worry, your cat will never go to United.
Meowsut Ozil?
Has your cat gone missing?
Rakitic will keep him on the bench until he retires. He will be a glamorous sub.
Bizarre. Rakitic is a central midfielder, Ozil is a no 10. I assume he would player there, or, more likely, wide right, since they don’t play with a 10. And that’s assuming this isn’t a load of bollocks anyway.
I’m hoping just that, that it is a load of bollox…
I think Barca already have a wide right/false ten. Little guy with a reddish beard and a tax problem.
And this team was just starting to click..
Me too, I have the shirt with Ozil on the back. I wear it playing 7 aside, I love to hear the other defenders call “Ive got Ozil!”, but noone ever really has Ozil.
@rogerbij at least you got an ozil shirt and not a chamberlain one like me!
sad and gutted to lose Ozil? I mean he’s a nice player when the game suits him, but I won’t remember him as fondly as….let’s see: Pires, Henry, Cesc, Santi, Berg, and many many others.
Ozil looks like a player that needs too much coaching/ego massages.
You don’t win titles with these guys; simple as that.
Having said that, a replacement is a must! Obviously Iwobi will deservedly get more game time, but we’ll need to sign a zippy and creative forward/attacking midfielder.
Except that he’s won titles in the past, how ironic?
I agree with you David. Very good player on his day but I don’t think ill miss him. Too inconsistent.
I’d give you 50 thumbs down if I could.
“You don’t win titles with these guys” Oh my God.
Just thinking the same thing. I think we crossed the point of no return a while back but thinking about how excited I was when he signed… very sad.
Bergkamp became my favorite footballer when I got to see him play during the ’94 World Cup, and I was over the moon when he joined the Arsenal. Ozil is similar, always loved to watch him play and was just ecstatic when he signed.
Seems like such a wasted opportunity now.
Providing this is true, he has been absolutely wasted. This is the first time he has played with a fast striker with good movement since he’s got here and still managed to rack up record assists. What could have been..
Ozil is the type of player that can be the difference maker in a team with other quality players but isn’t going to pull a team forward as the top quality player on that team. If we had signed Lacazette or someone similar around the time we signed Alexis and Ozil, there might have been enough quality to make the thing click. Opportunity wasted IMO. Enjoyed the games he was stuck in like the NLD but frustrated the hell out of me when he had no impact in other games against top sides.
Me too, and gutted..
I’d be fine with this – but only if we actually bring a replacement. No point losing an Ozil or Sanchez or both in Jan if we’re waiting till summer to sign a replacement. That’s 5 months with our squad seriously weakened.
On the other hand, having players like Lemar getting 5 months extra to settle in could really help our 18/19 season get off to a flyer, rather than the usual sluggish start we’ve made since new signings have come in in recent seasons.
hoping that the demise of Monaco in the CL means that Lemar is available
The thing with Lemar is I can’t see him potentially jeprodisring a WC place to come here now. Mahrez would be more realistic I reckon, Lemar in the summer
If we wanted Mahrez we would have already signed him. He increasingly just looks like a one season wonder
He has 2 goals and 4 assists this season in the league. In contrast, Ozil has 1 and 3. So, not sure about this one season wonder tag ?
He scored 6 pl goals in 16/17 after 17 the year before. Add in he’s not nearly as creative as Özil. If you average out Mahrezs seasons it’s not clear he’s a major upgrade on someone like Walcott let alone qualified to replace zouks creativity. Mahrez by the way has played 3 more pl games than Özil this year – that’s significant when the season is all of 11 games old
He’s playing in a far worse side though, bereft of attacking options outside of Vardy. I’d back him to rediscover his best form with a team like us.
Where would the money come from if he’s still worth 90M? Only reason we were in on him at the end of the transfer window was with Alexis 60M.
They were fantastic over the weekend, but I really do think Wengz should have one eye on the future. We deffo need new players, but…hate to say this…but we need to take a leaf out of Spurs book (which is just a leaf out of our old book) and seriously start to consider integrating some of our promising academy prospects into the PL team also (along with fringe such as Jack). Every once in a while, bring Jack in for the final 15mins in one of the AM positions and see how he does. Towards the end of the game,… Read more »
I think Wenger isn’t the man to develop youth anymore. Seems to have lost his touch. Yes Iwobi is ok but Walcott, Chambers and the Ox all seemed to hit a wall under Wenger. Bellerin has immitedly done well but I’m not 100% convinced in Wenger’s ability to develop talent anymore. I think we need a young hungry manager or a more modern proven one. I feel Wenger is unfortunately now outdated as a coach with a reluctance to adapt and change. Spurs victory was a great one, so credit where credit is due, but it papers over the cracks… Read more »
He’s not in charge of training or developing them. And no manager is capable of raising only world class beaters. They don’t grow off trees.
If he’s not responsible for training and developing them then he can’t claim the glory for developing other players.
Can’t have it both ways
Whether you think they reached their potential or not, all the names you mentioned actually got into the first team squad.
There aren’t many (any?) other top PL teams with as many young players in their squad…
Both De Bruyne and Lukaku were in Chelsea team during the same season. Mourinho didn’t keep them but they got game time. One was loaned to Everton, the other to Werdern Bremen and Wolsburg.
One or two games maybe, and I’d be amazed if Mourinho played 2 of them in any important games.
If any top team has more young players in their senior squad (especially from their own academy) it would be Manu who have been the biggest club in the UK for many many years, and even then then I’d expect the numbers to be close.
Reid’s Nelson, Eddie Nketiah….Bellerin, Iwobi, not too long ago Coquelin…possibly still the Jeff and Holding.
I dunno…I think you may be a little wrong.
If anything it may be detrimental to us to give too much room to internal development.
Remember Wenger was willing to sell Mustafi having released Gabriel in hope a half baked Holding can step up before he even delivers on promise.
So basically give up on the season? Yes Man City is far ahead at this point I don’t really think about them right now until they start to falter but 2-7 at this point isn’t bad. Unless you are saying its only the Prem title or we throw in the towel?
There is no reason to integrate the younger guys into the first team unless there is injury or they push out the guys in front of them out.
Its way to early to give up on the season.
Way to go! We need to clear the year before the turn of the year before things hot up.
Way to go! We need to clear the air before the turn of the year before things hot up. #autocorrectisabastard
We have to let him go and move forward without him. Thank you Mesut, and £20m+ is not insignificant.
Otherwise, the cloud of uncertainty will overshadow the second half of the season.
Opportunity for Jack, Iwobi and others to play more regularly.
Selling Özil for 20m in January is something like betting 1000 quid on Judd Trump to win a frame of snooker, at evens, and after he plays like the twat he is and goes 75 down with 72 remaining on the table, you cash-out the significant sum of 20 quid.
Go home to your wife and kids.
What have you got against Judd Trump – is it those shoes with all the studs?
Disappointing – however how many top players stick with one club these days? Maybe I’m wrong but I can’t imagine it’s about the money with Mesut, he wants to be at a top club challenging for the major honours. If he does go in Jan (which I hope he doesn’t) I just hope it’s to abroad and not to the red mancs. I’d wish him all the best, it’s been a privilege to see him play for us, even though some might think not.
Privilege to see him play for us and only actually put a committed shift in 50% of the time. Good riddance
Obviously it’s better that the player who has the largest number of assists and chances created in the Premier league since he joined us would be better to leave.
Yup. I’d be definitely better to find a player with a heavy (i.e., English) first touch & limited field vision, but who does run around the pitch yelling, misplacing passes, getting stuck in and putting it up ’em, then screaming like Juergen Klop for the theatrics but no end product. That totally makes sense.
I personally want to see a team of 11 players committed to the club. I would like Ozil in the side (who wouldn’t?), but if he isn’t committed then he should leave sooner rather than later.
Who says he isn’t commited? And this is Mundo Deportivo who probably know nothing but as Musti says have to fill their pages with made up shit. I refuse to listen to this until it’s announced by Mesut or the club. I will be gutted if he leaves, but it hasn’t happened yet and he could still sign, so until it’s proven I will still believe he will stay.
His actions say he isn’t committed, if he was he’d have surely signed by now. What is he waiting for other than an exit?
What actions? His stellar performances?
The point is that he is committed, until the end of his contract with us.
Personally I’d be shattered if he leaves. I have got very much used to his class, I’m afraid!
Can you complete your phrases ? His stellar performances every three games ?
Stellar performances should be caveated. Excellent against Spurs but not so great against Liverpool, City, Watford, Stoke. At any rate, that’s not what I mean. You can play well without being committed to the club. RVP had his best season with us right before leaving as I recall
If the club was committed to him then they would give him whatever he wants? It goes both ways right?
The fact he hasn’t extended his contract at any point during the last 5 years says he is no longer committed. If he was committed to us he would have done that. We see the damage it does when Wenger keeps quiet about his contract, now Ozil is doing the same, and it is damaging short term and long term.
They should have offered what they are allegedly offering now last summer and it would have been a done deal.
This is rank speculation, no more.
And Ozil hasn’t kept quiet on his contract. He gave the club his terms, the club negotiated, and (as far as we know, which is limited) decided they don’t want to pay it. Christ on bike – the revisionist history.
Ozil is superstar. Losing him will be a major blow.
while entirely plausible scenario, just curious what veracity do we give Mundo Deportivo here, and not just another Spanish paper wind up?
Well, Messi’s available in January, right?
I am over Ozil and happy for him to go to a less physical league where he is better suited. Hand his role to Iwobi who has a significantly bigger upside to his game
I genuinely am amazed at comments like this. I like Iwobi and I think he will get better with experience and maturity (though, of course, there is no guarantee). But the likelihood that he–or almost anyone else-will become better than Ozil is right now is very small.
Ozil is a world class player who has been German player of the Year for 5 of the last 6 years. Iwobi shows great promise but it’s laughabe to put him even close to hiss class and creativity
World class is such an overused term and in a team like Germany he is a maestro. Arsenal are not Germany. For the record, I am not comparing Ozil to Iwobi – clearly they do not compare in current form nor do i think Iwobi can in isolation replace his skill set. Ozil’s first touch and passing are something to be marveled but in Arsenal’s current state his weaknesses seem to be magnified to a power of 10. I am also not anxious to move him if there remains any chance that he would re-sign but at this juncture he… Read more »
Get Nabir fekir….the supplier of lacazatte
Yes, and keep Mesut.
It’s Nabil. He’s a quality player. If we managed to get him (proven partnership with Laca) I’d be happy. Goretzka could be on a free transfer at the end of the season, we got Kolasinac from Schalke on a free too… That worked out well!
Goretzka’s fate looks sealed with a move to Bayern on the offing I think.
But if we can steal him away from the Bavarians, it’ll be sweet payback for their murky Gnabry deal
If Bayern Munich get Goretzka, then we should nab Tolisso from them.
Why wouldn’t they want to have both?
Tolisso has been their most disappointing signing this season last I checked. Me thinks we should get him on a loan with a view to permanent transfer if Goretzka to bayern is announced because Bayern need to clear some space in midfield with Thiago, Vidal, Rudy(who has been quietly impressive), Tolisso & Goretzka, and even Renato Sanchez on their books next season.
Renato Sanchez or Tolisso or Goreztka, one of them should be available in my opinion(FOR THE RIGHT PRICE)
Loved his celebration in the derby with St. Etienne the other day. Oh boy were ‘les verts’ fans angry!
Very very good idea indeed. Fekir makes Laca score like crazy. Show big big money to Aulas in January and we will have him.
Luxury player if we want to win the league. If not to win the league, then very much part of the furniture at the emirates and must keep at all cost.
P.s. Happy to be proved wrong in the next game at burnley.
*yawn*
If he plays well at Burnley, would it really change your mind about him?
Me thinks not.
he is not a luxury player…. he is probably the most important player at arsenal!
This comment makes as much sense as Brexit.
Please stop politicizing football. It’s like you guys want to hate one another.
If he don’t wanna be here let him go. We’re bigger than mesut ozil.
That’s the point. We have offered him wages way above 200.000 a week. He’s a guaranteed starter in a very good team. If that’s not enough to keep him, jogg on mate. Have seen much better players leaving our club and we’re still here.
Seems to me that if we want to keep him, we simply need to improve other areas of the team. Instead of building a proper team, Arsene relies on one or two top players to carry them. This is why Van Persie left, and this is why Sanchez and Ozil will leave. We are ALWAYS just short of a full team. Except now we’re moving further away from just needing one or two players. Hell, we were one or two players away WITH Sanchez and Ozil. But instead, both will leave, and we’ll buy another top player in a year… Read more »
Too late for that now. What we need to do is focus on building a team around Lacazette, so history doesn’t repeat itself AGAIN.
Sadly its a mixture of injuries and being tight arses. got very very unlucky with rosicky, santi and daiby who all were top drawer players… hopefully santi can come back in jan
Yes Don you summed it well: we had a real opportunity to build when the exchange rates were more favourable, before this era of 90million euro players, when we were a Champions League club. All those nail-biting struggles for fourth place only to waste it through inaction in the summer. “Very happy with the squad” every January, out of the tournament in February.
It’s hard to convince a player to spend his peak 4-5 years at your club if your plan for success takes 20.
So 15 people think Mesut Ozil is bigger than Arsenal? My mind boggles at the people on here at times!
Whats the point holding your star players from summer transfer only to let them go in winter. Sad case. Ozil, come on man..just sign da ting. You are rich, famous, talented, intelligent, what else do u need man..you dont need the agent to decide for you..you are the magician..agents are a blood sucking ear biting Gollum
His stats are good but he’s not the complete player. Not enough goals and lazy when it comes to tracking back. Wilshere deserves a chance in the number 10 roll plus let’s sign Lamar as a replacement for Ozil.
So Mesut isn’t the complete player. But to your mind, Jack is?
Then you want to sign a winger, to take over the role you’ve just given to Jack…
Oh Big Dave…
Big dave sounds like a troll and i hope for his sake he is.
Wilshere might follow him out the door in January too.
Fed up about this constant call to track back. Does Messi or Ronaldo? Why not support a team like Stoke.
i don’t quite get why we would replace a number 10 with an artist? Sure, he’s good, but would rapping in advanced midfield position be the soluton?
I doubt he would accept an 18 months contract given the options he would have in the summer. That part where we allow him to negotiate might be true though.
Fuksake
Not only are we gonna lose one of our best players, I’ll also have to change the passcode on my iphone.
Farewell 6945, we had some good times.
The question is, which four-letter-word player can replace him?
Jack?
So Gazides looks bit of a mug again, again, again…
I know that Theo took it to the wire before signing, but in general, if players haven’t signed with about 7 months left on their contracts, then they probably aren’t going to sign.
This story sounds like tripe to me, but that still doesn’t change the prospect of both Ozil and Alexis leaving. It’s not great but it is what it is and we need to move on as all this ‘will they, won’t they?’ isn’t doing the club any favours.
Ozil is a real madrid fan and i may be wrong but i did read in some papers that in the contract arsenal signed with ozil there is an agreement that real madrid should have a say first before he can join another spanish club. a bit like cesc with us. and i doubt madrid would make it easy for barca to sign ozil.the most likely destination seems to be man u or back home to a schalke who are having a good start to their season.
doubt Schalke can offer the wages he wants
As long as we find a suitable replacement is ok. If you don’t want to play for Arsenal that’s that.
Nah. In today’s day/age where every league imports as good a players as they can and its a crazy, no limit market place, its really not “that’s that.” It all about the money primarily, then about the chance for titles and glory secondarily. There are many examples of this and the one-club man is essentially a myth in the modern game.
Let’s hope we stick to our normal transfer window practices and tell Barca he can’t go until the very last day of the transfer window giving us an extra moth with him 🙂
HOOORAY, put the flags out
Adolescent troll…
Wenger out
Joachim Loew in?
Heavy heart. I thought getting divorced was painful. And what the hell am I going to do with all these Ozil tricots now? Add em to the pile, I suppose. Damn, damn, damn.
So does this mean we are doing a swap deal with Dortmund for one of their players? Planets seem to be aligning…
Doubt that Barcelona would consider such a deal. But for us it would be the only way to recoup some sort of real world value. Personally I would try and take an established international player plus a promising youth player. Financially at a loss overall, but still a large technical loss for this season. But if we can maintain the teamwork we showed in the derby for the rest of the season, I could be satisfied if we could sign some decent transfers in the main window. As i believe we could sneak a CL place, I think Spurs and… Read more »
Obv. would have loved him to stay but out of any club he could go to i§d be really happy to see him go to barca… he’s style is really suited to la liga
20 mil and Messi’s No 10
So let me get this straight one click bate site translating another click bate site story I’ll give it a miss and not lose any sleep
Hmm, this explains why he played so well on Saturday.
If both Sanchez and Ozil don’t leave in January, they will at least know their destination by signing a pre-contract. Therefore, you can expect them to not lift a finger between Feb and May.
Alexis will continue to give 100% in every game, whether he’s playing in his back garden or at the Emirates stadium. His worst nightmare is to watch a game instead of playing it (although this doesn’t mean he’ll be ‘on form’).
I’d be surprised if Ozil drops his effort to any notable degree.
Most of the top players are top players because that’s the way they are.
You can only sign a pre-contract in Jan with a club outside England.
Beginning of the end. Certainly for Wenger.
As long as he doesn’t go to Man Ure……I don’t want to hate him like the Dutch Skunk!
Didn’t mustafi just say the media is full of shit just this week making up stories all the time. I mean how many times have the media been right in the past 6 years less than 5 percent. Why should I believe another made up story
Whenever he leaves Arsenal, I will continue to follow his career (just please don’t let it be in England). He’s truly a special player and it’s been a joy to watch him here. Sometimes it’s healthy to reflect a little bit and realize that although we haven’t won the league, we are still fortunate to have a player of his quality in our team. I still remember his first game like it was yesterday (I was jumping around and wondering how did he take down that pass from Gibbs?!?) These are the types of moments that make it worth it… Read more »
I’m sad that it has come to this, it really seemed like the club had turned a corner when he signed. Now, I don’t even have faith that we’ll reinvest any funds in the team.
But I’m still Arsenal til I die.
I don’t believe anything I reading it happens. Shit stirring, I believe it was called!
Whoops… *read, until it happens*
The arses have rejected me
Alisher Usmanov’s superyacht ‘Dilbar’, currently moored in Port Vell, Barcalona wouldn’t have anything to do with it would it?
That’s right. It wouldn’t.
Right move.
Don’t wait till the summer.
Sell one of the wantaways now.
We also have Giroud,Koscielny, Debuchy, Montreal all wrong side of 30yrs..one or two may needreplacement in addition to possibly Jack, Walcott and an upgrade over Elneny.
20 Mill???
As much as he was admired for his out put last weekend…jury is still out whether he can replicate the effort on a consistent basis or if he will pull the team out if the mud if the going was tough.
If Pastore is still less used at PSG, he’s be worth a look.
Similarly experience in position but with potential to also re-rile deeper as a possession midfielder to cover Santi.
Listen, I’m on board with selling to reinvest in the club but who are we going to get for $20 million? Welcome back Flamini!
As much as he is unplayable on his day you do have to question the consistency. Ideally he would maintain this level and sign on but the concern is that the standards will drop. I just don’t think this team can support that inconsistency
Honestly, €20m is nothing in today’s market. Better to keep Ozil & Alexis playing with Lacazette for the rest of the season and let them run riot racking up as many goals & assists they can for the Arsenal. If they get us into the champions league, the tv money from that should offset any transfer money we could get in January when our 2 stars leave on a free. And as fans, at least we get to enjoy this front 3 for another 6 months.
Ozil’s final assist is to bring in Lemar since Monaco are out of CL now
I really can’t wait to see the back of him…. He s a good player but he’ll always go missing in the Prem