Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil ‘90%’ to Leave in January

Is Mesut Ozil Leaving Arsenal in January Realistic?

While discussions such as these have become a monthly occasion at Arsenal, heading into the final six months of his contract and with first team football slipping further away, perhaps now more than ever this speculation should be taken seriously.

A lot will come down to the player’s wishes. If the exemption from the senior fold can’t be tolerated much longer, then for the sake of his own desire to play, he has to leave.

While Arsenal are at their weakest in an attacking sense, and the calls for Ozil to return to the fold growing louder by the day, will Arteta really retract from his position, or double down?

Arteta has made his feelings on the matter clear, and has always opened the door for player renaissances, but he may feel recalling Ozil shows weakness on his part, if indeed he believes it’s a valid option. Whether one agrees with that or not, tactical or otherwise, he appears more inclined to find other solutions in this difficult period.

There is also the topic of whether Ozil does want to leave just yet. As recently as August, in an interview with The Athletic, he reiterated his decision to see out his Arsenal deal, without much wiggle room for a change of heart.

"“I’m here through to the last day of our agreement and I’ll give everything I have for this club. “Situations like these will never break me, they only make me stronger. I showed in the past that I can come back into the team and I will show it again.”"

Even if the deal was a six-month loan deal with some of the wages subsidised until his contract runs out, Arsenal would take it. With a host of big earners seeing their deals run out in the summer, any opportunity to fast-track departures to January would be snapped at.

However, based on Ozil’s statements of the past few years, seeing out his deal has always been his intention.