'Ozil was offered to Barcelona, but they decided they didn't need him'

Barcelona are determined to land an attacking midfielder come January and talk of a £27 million deal for Mesut Ozil had intensified recently. However, 'Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Guillem Balague denied the reports, stating La Liga leaders are not interested in the former Madrid man.

“Barcelona had the possibility of signing Ozil last summer," said Balague, who back in August also revealed Barcelona's failed attempts to land Coutinho. The Spaniard insisted the Gunners were eager to offload the 28-year-old, but were met by reluctance from the Camp Nou: "He was offered to them, but they decided against it as they thought they didn’t need him."

The Catalan giants instead spent €105 million on Ousmane Dembele and continued their quest to sign Liverpool ace Coutinho, which eventually fell through. "Of course, there was such an expenditure on Ousmane Dembele that they didn’t think Ozil was the proper player they wanted," said Balague, before adding that the situation is repeating itself before the winter transfer window opens.

"The same situation has happened here, he has been offered to them but my understanding is that he is not the kind of player they are looking for. It’s more media talk than anything else," he concluded.