Arsenal transfer news: Mesut Ozil could leave in January with Gunners open to offers

Arsenal are open to offers for Mesut Ozil in January, as manager Unai Emery doesn’t currently have a clear role for him in the team.

The German was again left out of the squad on Wednesday for the League Cup quarter-final defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, and although Emery initially cited “tactical reasons”, he refused to clarify whether Ozil still has a future at the club when asked three times.

The Independent has been told the Spanish manager would be open to selling Ozil, with the issue stemming from a lingering disagreement over his tactical role.

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One training ground source said: “Every player has bought into the manager’s ideas so far, except Mesut.”

While the German sees himself as a playmaker in an advanced role, Emery wants more pressing and running work from such players, and this has been brought up at animated meetings.

Further complicating the situation is that Arsenal only this year gave Ozil one of the biggest contracts in Europe, at around £300,000 a week.

Few clubs are going to be willing to take on such a cost, meaning Arsenal may even have to subsidise a loan if the situation further deteriorates.

Arsenal were pressed into the deal because of the threat of a star leaving for free at a time of disharmony around the club, but former manager Arsene Wenger is understood to have hugely resented sanctioning such a contract. It has left his successor with a problem.