Transfer Gossip: Is Mesut Ozil leaving in January?

Arsenal midfield maestro Mesut Özil looks set to leave the club in January, or possibly even on a free transfer next summer.

The 28-year-old has just nine months left on his contract and has so far stonewalled contract renewal talks with the Gunners. Özil’s departure is all but confirmed according to former Gunner defender Martin Keown.

“Mentally, [Özil’s] already left the club” Keown said earlier, “He wants to go and it’s going to get messy.”

There are a number of possible destinations for the German midfielder, including a dramatic switch to Manchester United for free in the summer. Another possible destination is Inter Milan, with the European giants reportedly highly interested in getting the midfielder. Inter are under huge pressure to keep up AC Milan and Juventus who are spending big cash in bid to win the Serie A.

There is still time to polish off any discrepancies in Arsenal’s and Ozil’s contractual desires, but the possibility looks increasingly unlikely with the fast-approaching Winter Transfer Window.

The German has seemingly fallen out of favour with Arsene Wenger, making just three starts from Arsenal’s seven games so far, although a knee injury might have contributed to that too. 

Arsenal have plenty of options up front, with rising talents Alex Iwobi and Reiss Nelson, fan favourites Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey, on top of a few versatile strikers.

Should the stalemate continue, Wenger would be wise to cash in on Özil in January and use the funds elsewhere.