After a relatively successful transfer window, Arsene Wenger is ready to resume contract negotiations with Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. Negotiations had initially stalled after the two Arsenal stars reportedly wanted to see new faces at the Emirates before committing their future to the club but it is now understood that talks are set to resume.
Ozil had initially put off talks in order to focus on the EURO 2016 campaign but negotiations broke down upon his return. According to reports, the German international is currently demanding a whopping £200,000 per week, a significant rise from his current £140,000 per week.
Arsene Wenger hopes that the arrival of fellow German international Shkodran Mustafi from Valencia would persuade Ozil to commit his long-term future to the Gunners. Mustafi is reportedly a close friend of the German playmaker and arrived at the Emirates for a fee believed to be in the region of £35m. The Arsenal manager believes that his presence would play a huge role in Ozil’s ultimate decision.
Ozil has also reportedly been unhappy with Arsenal’s activity in the transfer market since his arrival. The club has rectified that this time around though and have spent close to £100m this window. It remains to be seen whether that would satisfy the former Real Madrid playmaker or whether he still sees his future elsewhere. Along with Mustafi, Arsenal have also added Granit Xhaka, Lucas Perez, Takuma Asano and Rob Holding in order to strengthen the squad.
Also read: Are Arsenal Premier League contenders after a busy transfer window?
Meanwhile Chilean winger Alexis Sanchez too rejected a new deal in the summer. The 27-year-old has 2 years to go on his current contract but reportedly wants to add a fixed price release clause to any possible new deal.
Arsenal have lost a number of their star players in the past few seasons including Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry due to a lack of silverware and will be hopeful that their 2 best players will commit their futures to the football club.
The Gunners have not won the league since 2004 and although they have managed three FA Cup trophies in that period, fans have been growing increasingly restless but a contract extension for their 2 biggest stars should appease them for a while.
Arsenal had a horror start to this year’s Premier League campaign as well after an opening matchday defeat to Liverpool but have steadied the ship with a point away at Leicester and a win at Watford.