Mesut Özil is reportedly being considered as Barcelona’s alternative to Coutinho, as the German would be cheaper for the Catalan club to chase in January.

According to reports in Spain, Mundo Deportivo write that Barcelona will make a January bid for Mesut.

According to transfermarkt.co.uk, Özil’s current value is £45m, but that value will be significantly lessened as his contract draws nearer to its conclusion.

Özil is older than Coutinho, but already knows La Liga, and isn’t cup-tied for the Champions League. As well as that, Liverpool have already received and refused multiple bids from Barcelona for their Brazilian midfielder, so there’s no real reason why things should be different in the winter window.

Arsenal and Arsène Wenger will undoubtedly want to hold onto the German, and I imagine there will be some intense negotiations in December to try and achieve that goal. Wenger has already revealed that this is when the club plan to speak to Jack Wilshere, so hopefully the Gunners will be pushing for a double signature to end the year.

As for what Mesut wants, it’s hard to tell. Publicly, he’s always stated that he plans to remain in London, but until the contract is signed we won’t know for sure. In a World Cup year, I think it’s in his best interests to stay with Arsenal until at least the end of the season, but we’ll have to wait and see whether Özil views it that way too.