Arsenal are reportedly planning to revive talks over terminating Mesut Ozil's contract at the club early.
The 31-year-old has less than a year remaining on his current deal at the Emirates Stadium, but Arsenal are desperate to shift his £350,000-a-week wage bill off their books.
Ozil is not part of manager Mikel Arteta's plans for the future and has not featured for the Gunners in any competition since March.
The former Germany international has been left out of Arsenal's squad for the Europa League group stages and also looks set to miss out in their Premier League squad, making the chances of him playing any first-team football before January remote.
The Daily Mail reports that Arsenal will resume talks over a mutual termination, but are increasingly resigned to having Ozil in their ranks until January at least.
The playmaker is reportedly refusing to budge on his demands that almost all of the remaining £13m of his contract be paid off before he agrees to leave.
Ozil would be free to open talks with other clubs once he enters the final six months of his contract in January, but Arsenal want to offload him permanently that month rather than waiting until next summer.
Ozil, who has scored 44 goals and created 77 more in 254 appearances for Arsenal overall, risked further angering the club recently by offering to pay the salary of sacked mascot Gunnersaurus for the rest of his time at the Emirates Stadium.
Barney Corkhill
