Arsenal blocked a deadline departure for Mesut Ozil on Friday.

The Mirror says the Arsenal playmaker had an offer on the table from a club in Qatar – but the proposed deal fell through with the Gunners reluctantly turning their back on the proposed switch.

It is understood that Ozil would have been willing to listen – and so too would Mikel Arteta with a suitor willing to foot the 31-year-old playmaker's hefty wage.

But the timing of the proposed switch left the Gunners with little time to source any source of replacement.

RB Leipzig's Dani Olmo was on his shortlist before his move to Germany.

So too was Yannick Carrasco from Dalian Yifang, before the Belgian was snapped up on loan by former club Atletico Madrid instead.