Arsenal: Barcelona add Mesut Ozil to their summer shopping list

Mesut Ozil’s future at Arsenal remains uncertain and now Spanish giants Barcelona are taking an interest in the playmaker.

Mesut Ozil is yet to sign a new contract at Arsenal and is now attracting interest from other clubs around Europe. In particular, Barcelona are showing interest and have added the German to their summer transfer list, according to The Mirror.

Arsenal are desperate to sign Ozil to a new contract but negotiations have so far proved unsuccessful. The German has 18 months remaining on his current deal and earns £180,000-a-week.

In his new deal, Ozil wants in excess of £250,000-a-week and is also looking to clarify the future of Arsene Wenger before committing his future. The news of Barcelona’s interest only intensifies the need for Arsenal to tie up a deal before the summer.

If Ozil reaches the summer without signing a new contract, then that will put the club in an extremely difficult position. Do you keep the player for, potentially, his final year and run the risk of him leaving on a free transfer? Or do you sell to the highest bidder and take no chances?

It’s also been reported that Real Madrid have a buy-back clause on Ozil, so the Gunners must inform the Spaniards if they decide to sell the playmaker. But decide they must with the summer fast approaching.

Arsenal shouldn’t even be in this position. How do you let one of your two best players run down to the final 18 months of his contract? If the Gunners were top of the Premier League and really competitive in the Champions League, then maybe you would have a fighting chance.

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But with how things are, you can’t blame Ozil if he was thinking he could get paid well elsewhere, and have a better chance of some major trophies. So why stay? Arsenal should have been self-aware enough to know that they are not in a strong enough position to be playing this game of chance.

The same goes for the Alexis Sanchez situation. Any club either player could go to is going to pay them well. But where is the club going? How far away are they from winning the major competitions? These are questions both Ozil and Sanchez will be pondering.

Anyway, given how Arsenal’s season is going, selling Ozil might be a good thing. The whole club needs a culture change, and the team needs a character change. Despite being supremely talented, Ozil is a player who very much typifies the Gunners’ fighting spirit and character.

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Those are attributes currently being widely questioned. So depending on the transfer fee involved, it may not be so bad if Ozil was to leave. However, that remains a decision for Wenger and Arsenal.

No matter what decision is made, it seems Barcelona will be watching with interest.

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