Barcelona To Target Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil If Coutinho Bid Fails

Spanish giants Barcelona are reported to have lined up Mesut Ozil as an alternative to Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho if they fail to sign the player.

This is according to a report by Spanish weekly sports magazine, Don Balon.

Barcelona has over the past few weeks made attempts to sign Coutinho and had bid £72 million for the Brazilian playmaker in July.

See Also: Philippe Coutinho Extends Liverpool Stay: Details About The Little Maestro’s New Contract

Liverpool rejected the bid with manager Jurgen Klopp saying that the player was “not for sale”.

When asked by a Spanish reporter for his interpretation of Barcelona’s pursuit of Coutinho, a bemused Klopp said:

“Well, you formulated the question in a strange way. Where is the interpretation?”

“The word ‘not’ means there is no interpretation for that. It’s nothing new, is it? He is not for sale. There is no interpretation at all. If you say he is available to be sold? I don’t understand that.”

It has been reported that Liverpool has again rejected another bid of £89 million from Barcelona for Coutinho.

The Brazil international has also shown no signs of being interested in the move but has rather been focused on working hard in training ahead of the new season.

See Also: Paris Saint-Germain Preparing World-Record £195 Million Bid For Neymar

This is why Barcelona may be turning their attention to Ozil who, like Alexis Sanchez, has just one year left on his contract and is yet to sign an extension.

Sanchez’s situation has sparked endless rounds of transfer speculation as his future remains under the microscope with a number of teams mainly Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain interested in signing him.

Transfer speculation on Mesut Ozil has been low until now with many believing that the 28-year-old will stay remain at Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger has suggested both stars will see their contracts out and leave for nothing next summer rather than being sold. An offer from a team in the region of £60 million this summer might, however, be too difficult to resist.