Arsenal opened talks with Mesut Özil over a new contract in December, but they still haven’t reached an agreement with the German international.

Goal claim talks were on hold from February until December last year, but now the Gunners have started them up again.

However, despite finally making another formal offer, Arsenal haven’t yet convinced the 29-year-old to sign. On the other hand, the upside is they don’t expect him to sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club.

Özil has been a key player this season. He has four goals and five assists in 17 matches, and Arsenal struggle to create without him on the pitch, which is evident when you look at the games he’s missed – Arsenal score twice as many league goals with the German present.

It’d certainly be a big blow to lose the player, now or in the summer as a result. However, I suspect the club may need to secure Champions League football before Özil considers signing, as he told Sport Bild in December: “I would like to win the Champions League once. This is my big goal, which I will fight for.”

So if Arsenal can’t qualify for the competition, they aren’t going to appeal to the World Cup winner. It’s down to the rest of the team to prove otherwise.