Mesut Özil has reiterated his desire to win the Champions League, making it clear what the Gunners need to do to keep him.

Özil gave an interview to German publication Bild where he talked about a number of things, including his idolisation of Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, and how everyone fights right until the end of every game in England. But it was Mesut’s comments on his sporting goals that gave a hint of what he needs from Arsenal to sign a new deal.

The German explained: “I would like to win the Champions League once. This is my big goal, which I will fight for. And of course I want to win the World Cup again.”

Arsenal, of course, are only in the Europa League this season. Failure to qualify for Europe’s top competition again next year would surely see Mesut go out the door. If his last big career goal is to win the Champions League, and the Gunners can’t even qualify for two years in a row, why would he stay?

Qualification isn’t an impossible task, at the moment.

Wenger’s side are fourth in the table, two points clear of Liverpool, and four clear of Tottenham. There’s also the Europa League to fall back on, and Arsenal have won their group with a game to spare, so they could well qualify through that route like Manchester United did last year.

But a lot of work needs to be done, including getting a result against Manchester United on Saturday, to prove to Mesut that this is more probability than possibility.