Mesut Ozil is so confident of a move to Manchester United that he is even telling his Arsenal teammates about it, according to MirrorFootball.
With just over six months left on his Emirates contract, Arsenal can either sell him in January and recoup some transfer funds for him or simply allow him to walk out of the club for nothing next summer.
Either way, the whole situation represents the latest embarrassing situation Arsenal have been involved in, and the fact he could end up at Premier League rivals Man United will only add to the Gunners’ humiliation.
Does the deal make sense? Our writers have had their say below…
Chris McMullan
Making some money on Mesut Ozil’s inevitable departure might be the smart move, and so selling him in January makes perfect sense, but it does make you wonder why he wasn’t sold months ago when it was clear he wanted away.
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Things are falling apart at Arsenal to a degree that would have been unthinkable a decade ago, but this by itself won’t be a nail in Arsene Wenger’s coffin. No matter how bad things get – and make no mistake, letting Ozil leave for Manchester United in the middle of the season is humiliating – the manager seems untouchable.
It’s often been said that the Gunners lack a ruthless streak, but it’s now clear that doesn’t just mean on the pitch: institutionally, too, they don’t seem to have a clear idea what they’re doing.
Christy Malyan
The final nail in Wenger’s coffin has been delivered countless times over the last decade – the real problem is lowering the casket into the ground.
Wenger has survived controversies like this before and will do so again; the board have made it perfectly clear they see no reason for change. The fact he was handed a new contract at the end of a season in which Arsenal finished in fifth, knowing he’d failed to secure the futures of Arsenal’s two most important players, tells everything about the blind, unwavering faith in Wenger from those above him.
It must be said that no player should be bigger than Arsenal football club – in fact, they’ve played better without Ozil and Sanchez in the side on the most-part this season – but is there another major team in Europe that would let players of their quality enter the final years of their contracts?
From a business perspective, a footballing perspective and a psychological perspective, it’s a damning indictment on what the Gunners have become.
James Beavis
While potentially losing both Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez during the January transfer window would obviously be a huge blow for Arsenal, the board must take a large chunk of the blame for letting the duo’s contract situations get to that stage.
With little investment on the pitch over the summer and no direct replacements brought in, this is perhaps an occasion where it actually isn’t Wenger’s fault. Anyway, while it would be a huge blow to see Ozil join United after seeing Robin van Persie make the same move previously, can this current Arsenal side even be considered as title contenders any more?
I still fully expect Wenger to leave when his contract expires in the summer of 2019, whatever happens on the pitch until that point.
