Mesut Ozil could’ve got away with murder under Arsene Wenger, but Unai Emery won’t stand for it

MESUT OZIL has been caught cold.

Arsenal’s sniffling playmaker, raking in an eye-watering £350,000 a week at the Emirates, is a sore loser.

Subbed at Chelsea, taking forever to walk off when he was hooked by Unai Emery, opted out of the next game. Poor form that.

Emery pulled Ozil on Thursday, outlining a redefined role for him against West Ham after opening the season with two nondescript displays.

The next thing Emery knew, Arsenal’s mercurial and moody No 10 reported a nasal issue and was signed off by the club doctor for two days. Draw your own conclusions.

At least his replacement, Aaron Ramsey, a man with half the talent but ten times the endeavour and application of sick note, put a shift in against the Hammers

But the Welshman is in his own stand-off with Arsenal over signing a new contract and will be a free agent next summer unless he puts pen to paper.

Arsenal won on Saturday — just — without Ozil on the field.

But this little power struggle with the German is a distraction for Emery in his early days at the club.

Under the previous regime, when Arsene Wenger overlooked every misdemeanour from his superstars, Ozil could have got away with murder.

Emery, with his outright devotion to the tactical nuances of the sport, has a different approach.

If he was picking players based on salaries, then Ozil would walk straight into the Arsenal team.

Emery has separated himself from all the hysteria surrounding Ozil, detaching himself from the superstar image the player has cultivated for himself in North London.

Until Ozil falls into line, he will face an extended spell on the sidelines under Arsenal’s new boss.

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Mario Mandzukic rejected move despite Jose Mourinho pleas

JUVENTUS striker Mario Mandzukic reportedly turned down a summer approach from Manchester United - despite the pleas of Jose Mourinho.

The 32-year-old has been a key player for the Old Lady since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2015, and is claimed to have rejected a move to join the Red Devils

.According to Calciomercato, the Special One was desperate to bring the Croatian international to Old Trafford.

The Italian news outlet have reported that the ex-Chelsea boss had identified Mandzukic as a top priority, but the player was persuaded to stay in Turin by Massimiliano Allegri.

They claim that the Juve manager guaranteed him that he would still be a vital member of his squad, and that Mandzukic harbours a dream of winning the Champions League with the Bianconeri.

While he is also hopeful that he will be rewarded with a new contract from the Serie A champions.

Mandzukic netted in the 2-0 win for Juventus against Lazio yesterday - his first goal of the new season.

Despite being a prolific goalscorer at Bayern Munich and Atletico in his one year in Spain, goals have been hard to come by for Mandzukic in Italy.

He has failed to net more than 13 times in a single campaign - while he mustered up just five league goals last tern.

The ex-Wolfsburg ace did however star for Croatia at the World Cup - scoring three goals in Russia - including in the 4-2 defeat against France in the final.

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Eden Hazard Real Madrid

EDEN HAZARD would have joined Real Madrid this summer had Zinedine Zidane still been in charge, according to dad Thierry.

The Chelsea forward's father has opened up about his son's turbulent summer and how a Los Blancos switch was on the cards.

Thierry went on to say he "doesn't know" why a move failed to materialise, suggesting that was down to Jolen Lopetegui going in a new direction.

Speaking to Belgian newspaper Hiet Niewuwsblad, Thierry said: "It could have been a different story if Zidane had continued as Real Madrid coach.

“But he had his reasons to leave.”

When asked why a summer switch failed to materialise, Hazard Snr added: "I can’t say what happened.

Maybe Real Madrid have a policy to give chances to youngsters.

“Eden has another year on his contract next summer, and it’s possible that he’ll still end up at Real.”

The Hazard to Real Madrid speculation was the story of the summer with many believing the Blues star would follow Thibaut Courtois to the Bernabeu.

Hazard's Belgium team-mate Courtois even revealed he tried to coax him into leavingbut with just days left in the La Liga transfer window, a switch seems unlikely.

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Spanish La Liga 2018/19

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EPL Matchweek 3

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CHELSEA FOR SALE?

CHELSEA owner Roman Abramovich has put the club up for sale with a price tag of more than £2billion, it was claimed last night.

It follows the Russian oligarch’s dispute with the Government in recent months over his visa status.

The mammoth figure demanded for Chelsea would smash the world record fee for the sale of a football club.

If a buyer summons up the cash it would nearly triple the most expensive takeover in history — the Glazer family’s £790million purchase of Manchester United in 2006.

The Raine Group has been hired to assist with the deal and will seek interest from China, the US and the Middle East, The Sunday Times has reported.

The investment bank also helped Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi owners to flog a 13 per cent stake to Chinese investors for £1.9billion three years ago.

Abramovich, 51, is said to have rejected a £2billion bid for his club from Britain’s richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe earlier this year.

The Russian, who has an estimated fortune of £9billion, recently acquired Israeli citizenship amid his visa row in Britain.

He also halted plans for a new 60,000-capacity stadium for Chelsea that would have cost an estimated £500million.

Once renowned as big spenders, Chelsea’s transfer dealings have also slowed significantly compared to their rivals.

Abramovich has been in charge of Chelsea since July 2003 when he bought the West London club for £140million from Ken Bates.

Under his ownership, the Blues have won five Premier League titles, the Champions League, the Europa League and the FA Cup five times

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