Arsenal determined to offload Mesut Ozil in January – but it could be tricky
Arsenal want to send Mesut Ozil out on loan in January and are willing to pay some of his wages to make it happen, say reports.
The Germany international has started just one Premier League game under Gunners boss Unai Emery this season.
According to the Mirror, the north London club would prefer to send him out on a temporary deal midway through the season, rather than continue to fork out £350,000-per-week wages for a player who is struggling for game time.
Considering his high salary, Arsenal are open to the idea of subsidising his wages to allow a loan move to go ahead.
Ozil and his team-mate Sead Kolasinac were the target of a car jacking over the summer and the 30-year-old has barely featured since.
He started in the 2-2 draw with Watford at Vicarage Road and the 5-0 League Cup win at home to Nottingham Forest but has otherwise been restricted to a place on the bench or left out of the squad altogether.
Arsenal were keen to offload the midfielder over the summer, but he didn’t want to leave and the only club showing interest, Fenerbahce, were priced out of a move.
His lack of game time, high wages and resistance to a departure could make it hard for Arsenal to find a club to take him in January, even on a temporary basis.
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Ozil still has another two years left to run on his contract at the Emirates Stadium club, who he joined from Real Madrid in the summer of 2013.
Last season, the World Cup winner scored six goals and contributed three assists in 35 appearances in all competitions as the Gunners finished fifth and reached the Europa League final, where they lost to Chelsea.
In total, Ozil has scored 43 goals in 233 games during his time at Arsenal.
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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.