COMMENT: Thank-you Mesut Ozil. Thank-you for breaking ranks and offering some clarity.
Okay, it was in the German press and on another day could easily have slipped under the radar. But after weeks - actually scrap that - months of tepid answers from Arsenal about the status of contract talks for Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, Gooners finally have some clarity.
"I am very, very happy at Arsenal and have let the club know that I would be ready to sign a new contract," declared Ozil to Kicker yesterday - which is some leap from the company line of "there's nothing new" from Arsene Wenger. The same line trotted out week after week.
The impression given was that Ozil was holding out for more money. That he wanted to see the club's shopping list. Yet, in a couple of sentences, he shut all that down on Sunday.
"The fans want that I stay and now it is just down to the club," he added. Ozil has his pen ready. He's blown all the clouds of speculation and uncertainty away. He wants to sign. He wants to stay. But there is a rider to all this...
"They know that I am here most of all because of Arsene Wenger. He is the one who signed me and he is the one whose trust I have. The club also knows that I want to be clear what the manager is going to do."
And there it is. It isn't Ozil who's holding things up. And we can hazard a guess the same can be said of Alexis Sanchez. It's the manager. It's Wenger. What is he planning? What is he going to do? Ozil has just blown the thing wide open.
When it comes to the gaffer beyond June, he doesn't know. None of the players know. And clearly, from the feedback his agents have received, those at Arsenal's end of the negotiating table haven't a clue either.
Which adds weight to all those claims on the continent of Arsenal intermediaries sounding out potential successors. Luis Enrique of Barcelona. Max Allegri at Juventus. They've been mentioned. Leipzig coach Ralph Hasenhuttl even went public with his contact. Things are definitely rumbling on behind the scenes at London Colney.
The acid has to be put on Wenger. Yes, after 20 years he deserves the space and time to consider his options. But you're also - in the form of Ozil and Alexis - talking about the club's two biggest assets. If the Frenchman hasn't pulled either man aside to assure them of his own plans, then something is clearly brewing.
Along with Ozil's revelation, it also broke on Sunday of a record Gunners offer for Andrea Belotti being turned down by Torino. This wasn't spitballing by the Turin press, Gianluca Petrachi, Toro's sporting director (and once of Nottingham Forest) announced on local TV that an Arsenal offer had been lodged and rejected.
Granata president Urbano Cairo then appeared later in the evening to assure fans that Belotti wouldn't be leaving for less than his "€100 million buyout clause". Cairo's defiance coming after Petrachi had not denied Arsenal's offer had reached a cool "€65 million".
So, what are Arsenal playing at? And who is driving this deal? Has Ivan Gazidis moved for Belotti knowing they'll bank a small fortune from Alexis' sale? Or is he being targeted to play alongside the Chilean? To convince both he and Ozil of the club's ambitions?
And (just to pour a bit more fuel on this fire) why Belotti? Why an Italian striker? Why not Karim Benzema at Real Madrid? Or Alexandre Lacazette at Lyon? Could it be that there's a certain coach living and working in Turin who has recommended Belotti's signing?
Okay, okay, we're entering the realms of conspiracy here. But this is what happens in a vacuum. A void that Wenger has allowed to fester. Ozil has given him a nudge. Well, a right old shove. With pen in hand, he's ready to sign. And you fancy close friend Alexis (“I get on the best with Ozil") won't be too long behind.
It's now on Wenger. What are you planning to do, gaffer?
