Arsenal will persuade Mesut Ozil to sign a new contract with the club, according to former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol.
The Gunners currently have huge question marks over the futures of a number of key players, with Jack Wilshere, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud all strongly linked with moves away from the club.
The former trio of course can all leave the club on free transfers at the end of the campaign when their contracts run out, but Alexis is the only one who appears certain to actually quit the club regardless of the offer on the table.
Nicol is now claiming that the German will stay, with Arsenal having to go all-out to make sure they do not lose both he and the Chilean in the same window.
“I would suggest he has to stay,” the Scot said.
“There’s no way Arsenal can let both him and Alexis Sanchez go.
“I think they will figure something out, so I think Ozil stays.”
The former defender was then asked his views on Giroud’s situation, having found himself benched in each Premier League match bar the West Ham match last night.
“If he wants to play, he has to leave Arsenal and I do believe that he wants to play,” Nicol added.
“I think if he has a decent World Cup that’s certainly going to help his case because he will be with France.
“So, absolutely he has to go, he can’t stay at Arsenal.”
The German has always refused to rule out the potential decision to stay put, but have we lost all strength in negotiation with so little time remaining on his contract?
Pat J