Arsenal contract rebel Mesut Ozil 'has heart set' on Manchester United move

Speculation connecting oft-maligned Arsenal contract rebel Mesut Ozil with a summer move to Premier League rivals Manchester United is beginning to gather serious traction amid reports that the Germany international is increasingly confident of reuniting with Jose Mourinho.

Ozil has just over eight months remaining on his current contract at the Emirates Stadium and talks over an extension appear to have been deadlocked for quite some time, despite recent claims from agent Erkut Sogut that negotiations were actually progressing in a positive fashion.

Arsenal are said to be unwilling to meet their former club-record signing's demands of a deal worth £17.1m ($22.5m) annually having already reportedly tabled a £275,000-a-week offer last season.

Inter Milan and Besiktas are both rumoured to retain an interest in Ozil, while Mourinho is also believed to be eager to reunite with a player whom he previously coached at Real Madrid for a three-year stint between 2010-13.

Sogut also said that Ozil wanted to remain in the Premier League for another two or three seasons and The Mail now report that he has his heart set on a move to Old Trafford and recently informed friends that he thinks Mourinho will come calling at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.

The same source reports that Ozil has already told Arsenal that he will not pen fresh terms, with the Gunners hoping to seek a buyer in January in order to avoid losing him to a direct rival for nothing further down the line.

Addressing Ozil's future during a press conference held before last weekend's last-gasp defeat to Watford, Wenger supported Sogut's claims that contract discussions were going well but conceded it remained a possibility that both he and Alexis Sanchez could be sold in January.

"It is possible," he said. "Once you're in our kind of situation, we have envisaged every solution, yes."

Ozil has made a typically inauspicious start to the new season, with an ankle knock and a bout of knee inflammation restricting him to just six appearances across all competitions so far. The 29-year-old missed the Community Shield and further games against Chelsea, Doncaster Rovers and Brighton & Hove Albion, the latter after he made a brief return in the win over West Bromwich Albion.

Ozil, who endured something of a tempestuous relationship with Mourinho at the Santiago Bernabeu, did provide a spark for Arsenal off the bench for the final 29 minutes at Watford, although spurned a great chance to double their lead before Troy Deeney's highly contentious second-half penalty. He is not part of Wenger's thinking for the Europa League at present.