More rumours this week about Mesut Ozil leaving the club in January, with one Turkish sports paper claiming that he’d personally told them that he was joining Manchester United. Added to this, there were further reports that he was off to Barcelona for £330,000 a week on a two and a half year deal, but Arsene Wenger was quick to pour scorn on these reports, citing Ozil’s agent as the fly in the ointment.

Report: Arsenal to launch fresh Lemar bid in January? 

Some sections of The Emirates have questioned the German’s influence in games and the importance of the club keeping a player that’s not willing to sign an extension despite having just a few months left in his contract, but his amazing performance against Spurs have made many people rethink Ozil’s worth to our squad.

Barcelona are not the only club that is said to be interested in Ozil as Manchester United and Turkish side Fenerbache are also keen to sign the talented former Real Madrid playmaker. Arsene Wenger is determined to keep his talsimanic midfielder along with Alexis Sanchez who is also is at the same contract crossroads as Ozil and when asked about Ozil signing for Barcelona, Wenger said, as quoted by the Independent, categorically: “No.”

He further stated:

“My worry is on Sunday [Burnley away]. After that, I will care about the second half of the season later. What kind of control can I have over that [news that Ozil is joining Barcelona]? All these people have agents who can talk to anybody, that doesn’t disturb people, that happens all through their career.  Nobody knows what will happen when the players reach the end of their contracts. Our worry is to perform on Sunday, that’s it. They want to turn up and put in good performances. I have no concerns. I am more concerned about the team performance…”

As you know, Arsenal are in a situation that the club might lose Ozil, Sanchez and Jack Wilshere by the end of the season if they refuse to sign a new contract, so selling in January might be an option. However any sales will surely derail what is shaping up to be a decent season for the Gunners and selling half of our team half way through the year just makes no sense at all even if we are missing out on transfer fees.

Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil will both be expected to start the game up at Burnley after Wenger rotated his squad for our Thursday night defeat in Germany, however, you may remember our last league game, the total humiliation and destruction of Tottenham Hotspur at The Emirates last weekend.