Real Madrid can beat Barcelona to the signing of Mesut Özil, with the playmaker reportedly having a clause that will see the former receive financial compensation if the Catalans make an approach.

Spanish outlet Don Balon claim that there are clauses in the German’s contract from when he joined Arsenal from Real Madrid, described as ‘anti-Barca’ clauses by the publication.

The two clauses are as follows: The first is that if Özil does join Barcelona, Real Madrid receive financial compensation. The second is that any proposal Barcelona send in, Real only have to match it and the Arsenal man will go to them instead.

If the clauses are genuine, then it would be a hit to any hopes the La Liga leaders had of bringing Özil to the Camp Nou. The 28-year-old only has a year left on his contract, so these clauses would presumably only apply in January, since after that Arsenal won’t have any ownership of the player.

I don’t believe Arsenal want to sell their star midfielder to either club, although they may not have much choice if the World Cup winner’s contract talks continue to stall. Right now, he’s recovering from injury, and has been left out of Arsenal’s Europa League match against BATE Borisov to aid this recovery.