Arsenal in talks with World Cup winner over £50m deal

Ozil has been by far Arsenal's best player so far this season

ARSENAL are in talks to nail down midfielder Mesut Ozil until 2021 with their biggest contract in the club's history.

 

Ozil will be offered a five-and-a-half-year deal with a salary of around £180,000 a week, making him the Gunners' best-paid player of all time, according to Football Insider.

The German is currently on a run of nine league games which either a goal or an assist, and has been a key player as Arsenal have asserted themselves as bona fide title contenders this season.

And Arsene Wenger is keen to ensure that the 27-year-old remains at Arsenal for the foreseeable future by signing him up for another five years.

 

Ozil's current £50,000-a-week deal does not expire until 2018, but with a number of clubs monitoring the situation, Arsenal first met with the German's representatives back in October.

If Ozil does sign a new deal then he will overtake Alexis Sanchez, currently the club's highest earning player, and only Arsene Wenger will be paid more.

However, should talks break down, both Bayern Munich and Fenerbahce are said to be interested in a bid for the talismanic midfielder.

 

But Wenger will fight tooth and nail to hang on to his man, such is his admiration for the player.

"The first time I saw him was at Werder Bremen," Wenger said after Arsenal's win over Olympiakos. 

"He played as a left-winger and I could see straight away that there was something special there.

 

"He's intelligent. Mesut is like a musician who always plays the right notes at the right moment. When he has to give the ball he gives the ball.

"He got out of impossible situations, but it was not forced individually - the team play was always in front of his ego. That strikes you because when players are usually talented that's not the first quality you see."