Mesut Özil’s advisors reportedly used Manchester United in the last round of contract negotiations with Arsenal, in an attempt to get a better deal with the Gunners.

With talks still ongoing with Mesut, as he runs down the final year of his current deal, the Mirror write that Özil’s advisors gave United as an example of a club willing to pay big wages. The Mirror claim that the German isn’t happy with the current offer from the Gunners, and wanted to show that other Premier League clubs would pay what he’s asking for.

It’s hard to judge the reliability of this information when very few trustworthy sources have talked about the reasons behind Özil’s contract agreement stalling.

Over the summer, David Ornstein said that talks were on hold, something which Arsène seemed to confirm when he said they’d slowed down.

However, if they have now started up again, there could be many reasons why Özil hasn’t agreed to anything, and I’m not inclined to take the Mirror at their word that it’s purely a financial issue.

Mesut is still in his twenties for now, he doesn’t need one last big payday just yet.

I’d expect his main concern to be a place in the team and winning trophies.

But as I said, until a reliable source gives us an update, it’s all just speculation.