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Ferdinand and Wright give Mesut Ozil their seal of approval
The Arsenal playmaker is set to become a free agent in the summer and is yet to sign a new contract. Manchester United and Barcelona are the reported frontrunners for the player's signature. United boss Jose Mourinho worked with the player during his time at Real Madrid and wants to sign the 29-year old, which would hurt the Gunners on the domestic front.
However, the Red Devils will have to bid for the player in January as foreign clubs can agree a pre-contract with the German from the New Year. While Mourinho ponders over the situation, a couple of English legends have given their vote of approval for the move. Manchester United's defensive rock under Sir Alex Ferguson, Rio Ferdinand, spoke about the playmaker to BT Sport:
"When he was at Real Madrid, he was a different player to what I've seen here. He's deceptively quick, if you can get that out of him with the ability, he's a technician. I'd take him at Man United all day, on a free transfer? No doubt. Jose will get that out of him. I'm taking him."
Backing Ferdinand up is Arsenal legend, Ian Wright, who told BBC Radio 5 Live:
“Ozil to Man United on a free is a shoe-in. I could see him at Man United and being unbelievable."
Such public statements, especially from a former player are bound to cause concern among the Gunners and only increases the pressure on Arsene Wenger.
Gunners bid for Juventus defender rejected again
Arsene Wenger has been looking to bolster his defensive line for quite some time now. Per Mertesacker is set to retire at the end of the season while Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal are on the wrong side of 30. This leaves the excellent Shkodran Mustafi and the young Rob Holding as the candidates for the near future. Hence, the London side have been trying to sign Juventus defender Daniele Rugani since 2015.
Arsenal were reportedly interested in the player at the time when he plied his trade at Empoli, on loan from Juventus. Rugani returned to Juventus in 2015 and has finally found playing time this year, owing to the departure of Leonardo Bonucci to AC Milan. The absence of first-choice status in Turin is a boost for Arsenal but Tuttosport reports that their latest bid was rejected by the Serie A side.
The Gunners bid around £35 million but Juventus are not interested in selling the player, as per the report. Meanwhile, this is not the first time Arsenal came in for Rugani with the English side backing out last February when the Old Lady quoted that not even a price of £30 million will be sufficient to sell the defender. Wenger will be genuinely hoping for a change of stance in the coming year to sign the 23-year old in the summer at the minimum.
Riyad Mahrez almost joined Arsenal in 2016
The PFA Players' Player of the Year and PFA Fans' Player of the Year in 2016 was the key reason behind Leicester City's stunning underdog league win and was wanted by several clubs. Despite the player wanting to leave with Arsenal particularly interested, a move did not materialise.
The Algerian opened up on how he was close to signing for the Gunners in the summer of 2016 but a deal could not be completed. The 26-year old said:
"I don’t know what happened, it’s football. You never know what will happen.They didn’t want to sell me."
"They said, ‘Yes, (there will be) no problem if something comes up. But behind the scenes they were blocking stuff — talking to clubs but just not wanting to sell me. But I’m confident. Contract or no contract, I believe I will get to the top. When you have quality, and show it, there’s no problem.”
Apart from Arsenal, Italian side AS Roma were also interested in Mahrez. Despite another summer transfer window passing away in 2017, the attacker is still at Leicester. However, Arsenal can push for him harder this time around as the man he was supposed to replace in 2016, Alexis Sanchez is set to depart one way or the other.
