Arsenal's Mesut Ozil 'very close' to shock January loan move - Paper Round

Mesut Ozil is reportedly "very close" to completing a loan move to Turkish club Fenerbahce, according to The Sun. The Arsenal playmaker has found himself out of favour at the Emirates Stadium in the last 18 months under former manager Unai Emery and The Sun state that incoming new boss Mikel Arteta "has been tasked with offloading" Ozil by club officials. Fenerbahce's sporting director Damien Comolli is said to have flown to London earlier this week to discuss a potential loan deal with the Gunners.

Paper Round's view: Ozil has struggled to find a consistent level of form throughout his time in north London, but his performances have completely deteriorated over the last year or so. The 31-year-old is on a £350,000-a-week contract at Arsenal, which means every single poor performance receives high levels of criticism from fans and football pundits. It must be mentally tough for Ozil but he isn't performing anywhere near to his best, so it makes sense for Arsenal to try and loan him out and get another club to pay some of his wages.

Things are going from bad to worse for Arsenal. Newly-appointed club captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is said to be "desperate to leave", according to the Independent. The 30-year-old forward only has 18 months left on his current contract and has no interest in extending his deal at the club in crisis. Aubameyang wants to join a club that is "ready to challenge for top trophies", while Arsenal are currently languishing in 10th place in the Premier League and are likely to enter their fourth consecutive season out of the Champions League next term. The Independent also state Granit Xhaka and Alexandre Lacazette are interested in transfers away from the Gunners.

Paper Round's view: This season has been a complete disaster for Arsenal. Aubameyang was only appointed as club captain last month and he already wants to move away. However, it does makes sense for the north London club to sell him - especially as they can't risk losing him for free when his contract expires in 2021. The 2018-19 Premier League golden boot winner is a very important player for Arsenal, but if the club fails to qualify for the Europa League they will need to sell him to raise some transfer funds. The real problem would be if they lost both Aubameyang and Lacazette next summer.

Incoming Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti reportedly wants to add Zlatan Ibrahimovic to his squad and the Swedish striker "would be interested" in a move to the Toffees, according to the Telegraph. The 38-year-old has been a free agent since leaving MLS side LA Galaxy so would be a cheap January option for the Merseyside outfit who are looking for a forward who can take some of the workload from youngster Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Ancelotti would also want Ibrahimovic to help the struggling 19-year-old Moise Kean, who has failed to find his form since a £25 million move from Juventus last summer.

Paper Round's view: Ancelotti has previously worked with Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Paris Saint-Germain, but that was over six years ago. Ibra has been playing in the United States for 18 months so might not be up to Premier League standard but because he's available for free, the cheap risk could be worth it. Bringing in Ancelotti and Ibrahimovic would show that Everton really mean business, but it would be very interesting as both figures have been labelled as 'has-beens' in recent months. Either way, Goodison Park needs a top-level goalscorer as the Toffees have really lacked one since Romelu Lukaku left back in 2017.

Former Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly eyeing up a possible move to Manchester City if Pep Guardiola were to leave at the end of the season, according to The Sun. The Argentine was sacked by Spurs in November and has been offered to be Real Madrid's "manager-in-waiting", a deal that would see him patiently be on call if Los Blancos' current boss Zinedine Zidane were to be sacked following a potentially poor run of form. Poch is aware that Guardiola could leave the Etihad Stadium after this season, so is waiting to see if the City officials approach him as a replacement.

Paper Round's view: The reported Real Madrid deal sounded like a very odd proposition so it's no surprise that Pochettino wasn't interested in it. Pep Guardiola has constantly been linked with a move away from Manchester next summer, with some reports of a break clause in his current contract which expires in 2021. Pochettino would be a perfect replacement for the former Barca and Bayern boss so it makes sense for him to wait and see what the situation is in June. Poch doesn't need to rush into his next role and should enjoy his time away from the stress of management before taking on a new job.