Man United face £30m Mesut Ozil price tag, Real Madrid close in on David de Gea alternative

David Cooper

10:46 09/11/2017

The transfer window may not open again until January 1 2018 but that hasn’t put an end to plenty of speculation throughout Europe.

Here, we take a look at three big stories dominating the headlines on Thursday.

Will any of the following deals happen?

Let us know your thoughts.

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MESUT OZIL

The Metro claim Arsenal and willing to sell Mesut Ozil to Manchester United in January but have set a whopping asking price of £30 million for a player who will only have six months left on his contract by then.

Jose Mourinho however, is understood to be keen on landing the German playmaker who he signed and worked with at Madrid for three seasons.

RATING: 6/10

VERDICT

There seems to be some truth to Mourinho’s interest in Ozil especially given United’s lack of innovation in attack and Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s poor form. The price tag, while steep, is not exactly outlandish if United are determined to sign the 29-year-old.

In truth, in terms of the deal, it wouldn’t be too dissimilar to the one that saw Robin van Persie make the switch to Old Trafford in the summer of 2012 for £24 million with add-ons. If Mourinho thinks his side will need a push in this season’s title charge, it may be a deal seriously considered.

SAMUEL UMTITI

The Mirror report that Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti is on United’s radar ahead of the January transfer window.

Mourinho is keen to add to his defensive options with summer signing Victor Lindelof being unconvincing so far at Old Trafford.

The Portuguese is said to have given up on signing No1 target Raphael Varane from Real Madrid and has turned to Umtiti instead.

RATING: 3/10

VERDICT

Barcelona are really under no pressure to sell. The Frenchman only joined the club last summer and is a mainstay in their central defence alongside Gerard Pique.

While it’s quite possible that United may be interested in one of the best young centre-backs in Europe, Phil Jones’ form this season has seen a sturdy partnership develop at the back with Eric Bailly. Meanwhile, there’s plenty of cover with Chris Smalling and Lindelof in the squad not to mention the versatile Daley Blind, injured Marcos Rojo, the emerging Alex Tuanzebe and the on-loan Timothy Fosu-Mensah.

Samuel Umtiti

KEPA ARRIZABALAGA

Real Madrid may have had a quiet summer transfer window but after a slow start to the season, Los Blancos are already geared up to begin their spending in January.

With repeated attempts to land United’s star keeper David de Gea ending in failure, Madrid are now closing in on Athletic Bilbao custodian Kepa Arrizabalaga according to Cope.

The 23-year-old will be groomed to take over from current No1 Keylor Navas in the future.

RATING: 5/10

VERDICT

Kepa certainly comes across as a young keeper with a bright future ahead of him and with his contract talks at Bilbao reportedly stalling, there’s every chance that Madrid may have been alerted to the situation. With Navas and Kiko Casilla both over 30 years old, it makes sense to add a younger keeper to the fold. What of Zinedine Zidane’s son Luca then who is training with the first team and primed for his first senior appearance?