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Arsenal turned down an offer from an unnamed Qatari club for Mesut Ozil on deadline day.
However, the deal fell through due to timing issues. Ozil was interested in the offer and his manager Mikael Arteta was open to the possibility of the German international leaving the club, but the fact that the approach was made on the last day of the window meant that there was no time to find a replacement.
One of the biggest impediments to selling Ozil previously has been the German’s substantial weekly wage of £350,000, so in any other circumstance, the Gunners would have welcomed the opportunity to get rid of the player who has rarely delivered on his ability this season.
The 31 year old played in Arsenal’s draw with Burnley at Turf Moor but he failed to make any significant impact on the game and was withdrawn after 62 minutes in favour of Joe Willock.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.