Signing a new three and a half year deal with Arsenal back in February 2018, there was no way Mesut Özil, or the Gunners for that matter, could have predicted the situation they find themselves in now.
Handing the German midfielder a reported staggering £350k/week, the Premier League side are now awkwardly stuck as to what to do with the 30-year-old, currently unable to find his way into Unai Emery’s plans.
Rumours of a possible exit have been touted here and there, yet Özil’s lucrative salary remains a hindrance for a majority of clubs, unwilling to gamble such an amount on a player who has proven himself rather inconsistent at times.
Still, TuttoMercatoWeb on Monday insist Arsenal and Unai Emery aren’t giving up on ridding the wage bill of the attacking midfielder’s salary, offering him around to a number of Italian clubs.
Juventus and Inter, both long-term suitors of the playmaker, are said to have been targeted, but you might have guessed what their answer was.
Özil’s wages were the main problem, and TuttoMercatoWeb reckon it will be ‘difficult’ for either to find the required financial space for his services.
In the meantime, Arsenal have been looking at Yannick Carrasco, but much like the German is for the Italian sides, the Belgian’s reported €11m/year wages are very difficult for the Gunners to go near with the former Real Madrid star still at the club.
So for Arsenal it would be a case of one in and one out. It’s a long shot.
