Mesut Özil is being linked with an Arsenal exit after his absence in Wednesday’s North London derby, but who could Unai Emery sign to replace him?

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After Unai Emery called Mesut Özil’s exclusion from his North London derby squad a ‘tactical’ decision, the papers quickly went into overdrive linking the German with an exit.

The Times and the Mirror reported that Arsenal were ready to listen to offers for their star man. The Daily Mail claimed Emery was running out of patience with the star, The S*n added that the Gunners had already set a £30m price tag to offload the German, and so on.

However, in matches this season without Özil, Arsenal have clearly found it difficult to create as many chances. He remains their chief chance creator in the league despite his limited appearances lately.

If the playmaker does end up moving on, Emery will need to replace that midfield creative presence. Let’s look at who he could sign to do so.

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Isco

• Age: 26
• Position: Attacking Midfield
• Club: Real Madrid
• Contract until: 2022
• Estimated market value: £81m

Arsenal are reportedly watching the situation of Real Madrid playmaker Isco, as the 26-year-old struggles to start under new boss Santiago Solari.

Since Solari took over as manager of the La Liga side, Isco has found himself on the bench or out of the squad completely on a number of occasions.

It’s not as if Real are particularly suffering without him either. After a poor start to the season, they’ve won lost two of their matches under Solari, and Isco started one of the two. As a result, the rumours of an exit are starting to return.

The Daily Mail write that Arsenal are ‘watching the situation’, and they list the club as one of three Premier League sides the midfielder could end up joining. The other two are Chelsea and Manchester City, so it’s fair to say there’s competition.

The Mail also go on to point out that although Isco has played under Emery before, at Valencia, the two didn’t necessarily always see eye-to-eye. The Real Madrid man felt he deserved more first-team game time, after making most of his appearances for the Valencia B team in 2009/10 and 2010/11. He then left for Malaga in 2011.

Nonetheless, Emery did give the playmaker his senior debut, so there are positives and negatives to the story. Perhaps the Arsenal head coach could rekindle the relationship now that Isco is an established player.

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Pablo Fornals

• Age: 22
• Position: Attacking Midfield
• Club: Villarreal
• Contract until: 2022
• Estimated market value: £22.5m

Arsenal are reportedly considering a £17.8m move for Pablo Fornals as links with the player surface again.

Arsenal have been linked with Villarreal’s Pablo Fornals for some time now. In fact, he was once named as a possible Santi Cazorla replacement long before we even knew Santi would be leaving.

The midfielder has a £17.8m release clause according to this latest report and that has caught the attention of Arsenal who are said to be prepared to meet it.

An established first-team regular with Malaga before paying his own release clause of £10m to join Villarreal in 2017, Fornals has three goals and three assists this season in 24 games.

An attacking midfielder with a strong shot from distance, who is able to hold onto the ball well and loves a tackle, Fornals currently wears the number 8 for Villarreal.

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Miguel Almiron

• Age: 24
• Position: Attacking Midfield
• Club: Atlanta United
• Contract until: 2020
• Estimated market value: £13.5m

The Almiron saga has been a bit back and forth so far. Fox Sports announced last month that Arsenal had agreed on an £11.5m deal to sign the midfielder from the MLS. That was followed up by a clarification from his agent that hinted at contact but said nothing was formal.

Since then, however, the comments of the 24-year-old’s agent have fallen by the wayside. The story of Almiron’s signing dominated the headlines for a while anyway, despite it being reported that the original comments from Atlanta’s president, Darren Eales, were not true:

https://twitter.com/thegoalkeeper/status/1048228927871832066?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1048228927871832066&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdailycannon.com%2F2018%2F11%2Fatlanta-want-35m-for-almiron-after-arsenal-reportedly-agree-11-5m-deal%2F

However, genuine comments have since come out from the player’s agent claiming that whilst there’s still nothing concrete, Almiron will ‘certainly’ play in the Premier League. That’s that then.

Almiron scored 13 goals and assisted 13 as well in his 38 appearances this year. Thanks to the calendar year format of the MLS, his season has ended just as the January transfer window is about to open.

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Houssem Aouar

• Age: 20
• Position: Central Midfield
• Club: Villarreal
• Contract until: 2023
• Estimated market value: £36m

Arsenal are also tracking Olympique Lyonnais star Houssem Aouar, according to reports.

The Daily Mail write that Arsenal have been scouting Aouar for the last 18 months, and they consider him someone who could replace Aaron Ramsey in North London, but the same could be true of Mesut Özil. The Lyon midfielder’s performances in this season’s Champions League have reportedly particularly caught Unai Emery’s eye.

The Week write that Aouar is ‘near the top’ of Emery’s list of players to sign. Although Chelsea were initially planning to rival Arsenal for the 20-year-old’s signature, they’ve since turned their attention to Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic instead.

Aouar has six goals and four assists in 23 appearances for Lyon this season. He’s mostly playing in central midfield but has also spent some time on the left.

The youngster has also scored in both of his most recent u21 appearances for France. There were rumours that he might get a senior call-up before he picked up a knock immediately before the current international break.

A strong passer who contributes well defensively and counter-attacks impressively, Aouar could fit well in Emery’s side. We’ll see if Arsenal decide to move for him in the next couple of windows.

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Ruben Neves

• Age: 21
• Position: Defensive Midfield
• Club: Wolves
• Contract until: 2023
• Estimated market value: £36m

Arsenal and Manchester City are interested in Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves, who prefers to stay in the Premier League than move abroad, according to reports in Portugal.

Neves certainly wouldn’t be a direct replacement for Mesut Özil, playing a much more defensive role, but perhaps that could hint at a change in style under Unai Emery. He’s already trialled a couple of teams without the use of a traditional number 10, for example in the 5-1 win against Fulham.

The Neves story actually started in Italy, with Tuttosport (via Sport Witness) reporting that Juventus had met with Jeorge Mendes over a possible move for the Wolves man. However, Portuguese outlet Record then took over, claiming Neves would rather stay in the Premier League, where he’s already wanted by Arsenal and Manchester City.

Neves has been a crucial part of Wolves’ success over the last season and a half. After leaving Porto for the then Championship side, the midfielder helped his new team on an impressive promotion push. Since then, he’s been just as effective in the Premier League.

The 21-year-old is a very well rounded midfielder. He can pass, he has a deadly long-shot, he can take free kicks, and he’s also good at winning the ball back and staying focused out of possession.

Playing a more defensive position in the Wolves side, Neves perhaps doesn’t get involved in the goals as much as other midfielders. That’s not really his job though. Nonetheless, he has scored a couple of league goals this season, including one against Spurs.