Mesut Özil will leave Arsenal for free at the end of the season, according to latest reports in Germany.

SportBild via Mirror report that talks have broken down and Özil has decided to leave the club. This would come as a complete turnaround from the BBC Sport interview the 28-year-old gave in July, where he said: “It is definitely my preference to stay.”

It would also be a big blow to the club if Özil decides not to renew his contract or even negotiate new terms. Alexis Sanchez already seems to be on the way out, so Arsenal could be set to lose both of their star players for nothing at this point.

More to the point, whilst Alexis’ goals can be somewhat replaced through internal solutions, as we saw at the weekend against Bournemouth, there’s never been much evidence that other players can match the German international’s creative output.

In fact, Özil has created the most chances and has the most assists in the entire Premier League since he joined in 2013/14. That’s always going to be difficult to replace, especially if you have no money coming in.

If the rumours are true, hopefully Arsenal can do something to change the player’s mind before it’s too late.