Mesut Ozil leaning towards Juventus transfer

Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil could reportedly snub advances from Manchester United in order to join Juventus at the end of the current campaign. The Germany international has just five months left on his current Arsenal deal, and he is seemingly reluctant to extend his contract beyond the summer.

According to IlBianconero, the World Cup winner may prefer a switch to Turin next season owing to the large number of German contingent at the Italian champions. The likes of Sami Khedira and Benedikt Howedes are already plying their trade for the Serie A holders, whilst Emre Can is also expected to arrive from Liverpool on a Bosman.

The World Cup winner has remained relatively mum over his contract situation at the Emirates, but the talk over his future has only intensified in recent weeks after failing to make the Gunners’ squad owing to a minor swelling on his knee.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has previously iterated that the club could secure an agreement with Ozil until the very end of the campaign, but there appears to be more hope rather than confidence with Alexis Sanchez already on the cusp of leaving the north London side.

Wenger’s team reached a new low in the Premier League this weekend after they succumbed to a 2-1 loss at Bournemouth. The loss sees them eight points behind fourth-placed Liverpool, and their chances of finishing in the top-four could lie on winning the Europa League, though it does not any easy.

The likes of Atletico Madrid, Napoli and Borussia Dortmund have dropped into Europe’s second competition via their third place finishes in the respective Champions League groups earlier this term, and the current Gunners side faces a different task of going to the very end unless they sort out their injury concerns.

Arsenal still stand a chance of lifting silverware via their League Cup and Europa League campaigns, but their backline has been particularly dented with first-choice centre-backs Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal presently in the physio room.

Image – Getty