Arsenal in battle with Ozil over future, Arteta seeks to capture £25m-rateed Ajax star, Why Coutinho’s fate is in Arsenal’s hand.

*Arsenal in battle with Ozil over future

*Arteta seeks to capture £25m-rateed Ajax star

*Why Coutinho’s fate is in Arsenal’s hand

North London outfit Arsenal have been tipped to move in for the signature of Brazilian international, Philippe Coutinho from Spanish La Liga club, Barcelona, this summer transfer window.

The Gunners have been linked with the player who is out-of-favour at the Bernabeu with his future left hanging as German Bundesliga outfit, Bayern Munich are unwilling to give him a permanent stay at the club.

Reports now claim that the North London club are the only solution to Philippe Coutinho as the player has already decided that he does not want to play for the Spanish giants anymore.

Most clubs are refusing to look the direction of Philippe Coutinho because of the wage bill and the same reason why Barcelona are having it tough with him to stay.

Should the North London club propose a loan deal for Philippe Coutinho, it would solve a lot of problems as the wage bill could be shared between the two teams.

However, there are fears that the North Londoners have already rejected the chances of having the former Liverpool player at the Emirates Stadium as they prefer his Brazilian counterpart, Willian from West London club, Chelsea.

Willian is reported to have completed medicals at the Emirates Stadium and a three-year deal is set to be announced by the club.

Ozil can be one of worst players in the world', according to Arsenal icon Merson

Paul Merson has claimed Mesut Ozil is 'one of the worst players in the world' when he doesn't have the ball.

The Arsenal midfielder has dropped out of Mikel Arteta's starting line-up – and at Manchester City, the squad – since the Premier League restarted after the coronavirus pause.

He has also not been used in either of their matches against Brighton or Southampton, and didn't make the squad as they beat Sheffield United 2-1 in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Arteta has said that the £350,000-a-week German needs 'a little bit of time' before he can play again for Arsenal.

'I think Ozil is a prime example of a player who has to play in a proper team, that is going to be right up there, dominating football matches. He's got to play in a majorly successful team,' Merson told Sky Sports.

'He can't play in this Arsenal team, here's why: he's not going to change his game now in his 30s, and Arsenal aren't going to change their game for him.

'He isn't tracking back, chasing players, and you need him in a team where you're getting 70 per cent of the ball each week, and he'll play. You get players around him, let him play. We all know how Ozil plays, you give him the ball and he'll find you. If you don't have the ball, he won't win it back for you for love nor money.

'He's not interested when they don't have the ball. How can you give someone £350k-a-week when we all knew that was his style of play?

'If he hasn't got the ball he's one of the worst players in the world! I would say that. Name me a worse player in the world when their team doesn't have the ball.

'I've never seen somebody so disinterested when they don't have the ball, but he hurts you at the other end!

'Can Arsenal form a team around him? At the moment, it's at the stage where you can't do that. They're not going to change the team for him. He'll pick up his £350,000-a-week and everything is rosy for him.'

On the decision to hand Ozil a huge pay packet, Merson continued: 'They have to come to a deal with him; maybe he'll take £200k a week somewhere else. I don't know how this gets resolved though.

'Does he want to play football? If he loves football, he has to come to a deal with Arsenal, but it's easy to say that. Nobody wants to lose £150k a week, no matter how much you earn! Who is mad enough to throw that money away, no matter who you are?