Mesut Ozil tells Arsenal teammates ‘he’ll sign for Manchester United’

It’s rare that the British media portrays a united front but that’s the case this morning in reporting the latest in the Mesut Ozil saga.

The Daily Mirror says that the German midfielder “has told his Arsenal team-mates he’ll sign for Manchester United” in January, claims that are also repeated in The Sun, which describes the admission as “a bombshell”.

The Mirror says that the 29-year-old Ozil feels marginalised at the Emirates this season after losing his place in the starting line-up, and as he’s in the last year of his contract with the Gunners he wants to secure a move as soon as possible.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Ozil has his eye on Old Trafford, and a reunion with Jose Mourinho, his former coach at Real Madrid, but the Mirror wonders whether United “will push through on a deal for the 2014 World Cup winner”.

Mourinho has spoken in the past of his admiration for Ozil, but the Special One is nothing if not astute and he’ll have to decide whether the willo-the-wisp German is capable of withstanding the rigours of Premier League football on a regular basis.

It’s his inconsistency, says the Sun, that has convinced Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger to axe Ozil, and the paper claims that the club “are open to selling him in January”.

It’s also believed that the Frenchman wouldn’t have a problem offloading him to a bitter rival given that he would rather make a few quid on a player he believes is on the wane rather than see him leave on a free transfer in June.

As for money, the Mirror says that Ozil’s representatives “have been asking for £350,000-a-week to sign a new deal”, although the Sun puts the figure at around £300,000.

Arsenal offered Ozil £275,000-a-week last season but the two newspapers say that the Gunners now consider that fee excessive given his sub-standard performances this season.